checkmate

views updated Jun 11 2018

check·mate / ˈchekˌmāt/ • n. Chess a check from which a king cannot escape. ∎ [as interj.] (by a player) announcing that the opponent's king is in such a position. ∎ fig. a final defeat or deadlock.• v. [tr.] Chess put into checkmate. ∎ fig. defeat or frustrate totally.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

Checkmate

views updated May 29 2018

Checkmate. Ballet in 1 act by Bliss to his own lib., choreog. N. de Valois. Prod. by SW co., Paris 1937; then over 100 perfs. in Britain; as Suite, NY 1939.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE

checkmate

views updated May 14 2018

checkmate in chess, a position in which a player's king is directly attacked by an opponent's piece or pawn and has no possible move to escape the check. The attacking player thus wins the game.

Recorded from Middle English, the term comes from Old French eschec mat, from Arabic šāh mā, from Persian šāh māt ‘the king is dead’.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

checkmate

views updated May 23 2018

checkmate (chess) the move which puts the king into inextricable check. XIV. Aphetic — OF. eschec mat — Pers. šāh māt the king is dead; see CHECK 1.
Hence as vb. XIV.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD