CHECKMATE | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of checkmate in English checkmatenoun [ U ] uk /ˈtʃek.meɪt/ us /ˈtʃek.meɪt/ Add to word list Add to word list a winning position in chess in which you have put the other player's king under a direct attack from which it cannot escape a situation in which someone has been defeated or a plan cannot develop or continue Compare stalemate Board games

• backgammon
• bishop
• blitz
• board game
• castle
• counter
• counterplay
• defence
• endgame
• forfeit
• grandmaster
• king
• move
• pin
• queenside
• re-roll
• resign
• rook
• rounder
• square

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Winning and defeating Difficult situations and unpleasant experiences checkmateverb [ T ] uk /ˈtʃek.meɪt/ us /ˈtʃek.meɪt/ to achieve a winning position in chess in which you have put the other player's king under a direct attack from which it cannot escape: My dad can always checkmate me within 20 moves. The goal is to checkmate an opponent's king. to create a situation in which someone is defeated or a plan cannot develop or continue: The committee discussed the best method to checkmate this move. They are doing their best to checkmate those conspiring against the State. Compare stalemate

• When a player can not get his king out of check, the king is checkmated and the game is over.
• My opponent methodically demolished me, piece by piece, until finally I was checkmated.
• Checkmated by the cunning Pope, he was put on trial in Florence.

Board games

• backgammon
• bishop
• blitz
• board game
• castle
• counter
• counterplay
• defence
• endgame
• forfeit
• grandmaster
• king
• move
• pin
• queenside
• re-roll
• resign
• rook
• rounder
• square

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Winning and defeating Difficult situations and unpleasant experiences (Definition of checkmate from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of checkmate

checkmate In chess the king is never actually captured the game ends as soon as the king is checkmated. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. The game is over when both opposing kings are checkmated. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. In the latter case, the first player to be checkmated is ranked fourth, the next is ranked third, and the player losing at the end is ranked second. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. When a player is checkmated or stalemated, his king is immediately removed from the game and his remaining men become the property of the player delivering the mate or stalemate. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. Once a player is checkmated, the checkmated player can either remove their pieces from the board, or the player that checkmated can use the remaining pieces during that player's turn. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. In master and serious amateur play, most players resign an inevitably lost game before being checkmated, and it is considered bad etiquette to continue playing in a completely hopeless position. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. Kf2, he might be quickly checkmated. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. Such and such a position in chess counts as checkmate. From the Cambridge English Corpus He likes to proceed rapidly to checkmate in argument, taking a couple of bishops probably on the way! From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 He has been led on as though he was playing a game of chess to a checkmate. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 The use of the battleship is to checkmate the activities of the enemy's battleship. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 Their only duty is to checkmate the activities of the enemy's battleships. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 Clause 22 is designed to checkmate that. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 As in chess, a captured man is replaced on its cell by the capturing piece, and the winning objective is checkmate. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. As in standard chess, the winning player is the one who forces his or her opponent's king (or equivalent piece) into checkmate. From Wikipedia This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. See all examples of checkmate These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of checkmate?

Translations of checkmate

in Chinese (Traditional) （西洋棋中的）將軍，將死, 失敗, 敗局… See more in Chinese (Simplified) （国际象棋中的）将军，将死, 失败, 败局… See more in Spanish jaque mate, hacer jaque mate a, dar/hacer jaque mate… See more in Portuguese xeque-mate, colocar em xeque-mate… See more in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Czech in Danish in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Korean in Ukrainian in Italian （チェスの）チェックメイト, （チェスで）キングを詰める… See more mat, mat etmek… See more échec et mat, faire échec et mat… See more escac i mat, fer escac i mat a… See more schaakmat, schaakmat zetten… See more šachmat, dát mat… See more skakmat, gøre skak… See more sekak mat, menyekak mat… See more การอยู่ในตำแหน่งชนะในการเล่นหมากรุก, ทำให้เข้าตาจน… See more chiếu tướng, đặt vào vị trí… See more szach-mat, mat, dać mata… See more schackmatt, göra schackmatt… See more sekak mat, menyekak… See more das Schachmatt, Schachmatt setzen… See more sjakkmatt, gjøre sjakkmatt… See more 체크 메이트, 체크 메이트로 이기다, 완전히 이기다… See more шах і мат, оголосити мат… See more scacco matto, dare scacco matto a, dare scacco matto… See more Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool

Browse

checkers checking checking account checklist checkmate checkmated checkmating checkoff checkout {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

Word of the Day

pollen

UK /ˈpɒl.ən/ US /ˈpɑː.lən/

a powder, produced by the male part of a flower, that causes the female part of the same type of flower to produce seeds. It is carried by insects or the wind.

About this

Blog

Throwing a punch or throwing your head back: using the verb ‘throw’

March 04, 2026 Read More

New Words

fail watching March 09, 2026 More new words has been added to list To top AI Assistant Contents EnglishExamplesTranslations AI Assistant {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games {{userName}}

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
• My profile
• +Plus help
• Log out

Log in / Sign up English (UK) Change English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Follow us Choose a dictionary

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries
  • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
  • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
  • English–Danish Danish–English
  • English–Dutch Dutch–English
  • English–French French–English
  • English–German German–English
  • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
  • English–Italian Italian–English
  • English–Japanese Japanese–English
  • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
  • English–Polish Polish–English
  • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
  • English–Spanish Spanish–English
  • English–Swedish Swedish–English
  Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists

Choose your language English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents

• English   NounVerb
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

My word lists

To add checkmate to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in My word lists

Add checkmate to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{name}} More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}