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checkmate

 [chek-meyt]   Origin

check·mate

   [chek-meyt] noun, verb, -mat·ed, -mat·ing, interjection
noun
1.
Also called mate. Chess.
a.
an act or instance of maneuvering the opponent's king into a check from which it cannot escape, thus bringing the game to a victorious conclusion.
b.
the position of the pieces when a king is checkmated.
2.
a complete check; defeat: His efforts to escape met with a checkmate.
verb (used with object)
3.
Chess. to maneuver (an opponent's king) into a check from which it cannot escape; mate.
4.
to check completely; defeat: Napoleon was checkmated at Waterloo.

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to bark; yelp.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
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interjection
5.
Chess. (used by a player to announce that he or she has put the opponent's king into inextricable check.)
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English chek mat(e) < Middle French escec mat < Arabic shāh māt < Persian: literally, the king (is) checked, nonplussed

Related forms
un·check·mat·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To checkmate
Collins
World English Dictionary
checkmate (ˈtʃɛkˌmeɪt)
 
—n
1.  chess
 a.  the winning position in which an opponent's king is under attack and unable to escape
 b.  the move by which this position is achieved
2.  utter defeat
 
—vb
3.  chess to place (an opponent's king) in checkmate
4.  to thwart or render powerless
 
—interj
5.  chess a call made when placing an opponent's king in checkmate
 
[C14: from Old French eschec mat, from Arabic shāh māt, the king is dead; see check]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

checkmate
c.1346, from O.Fr. eschec mat, ult. from Pers. shah mat, lit. "the king is left helpless," from shah "king" + mat "he is dead."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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