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stalemate

 [steyl-meyt]   Example Sentences Origin

stale·mate

   [steyl-meyt] noun, verb, -mat·ed, -mat·ing.
noun
1.
Chess. a position of the pieces in which a player cannot move any piece except the king and cannot move the king without putting it in check.
2.
any position or situation in which no action can be taken or progress made; deadlock: Talks between union and management resulted in a stalemate.
verb (used with object)
3.
to subject to a stalemate.
4.
to bring to a standstill.

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verb (used without object)
5.
to be or result in a stalemate or standoff: Negotiations stalemated when new salary demands were introduced.
Origin:
1755–65; late Middle English stale stalemate (whence Anglo-French estale) (apparently special use of stale1) + mate2

Related forms
un·stale·mat·ed, adjective

Synonyms
2. impasse, standoff, standstill.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Example Sentences
  • The four-month-old uprising remains locked in a stalemate with a government that still enjoys support.
  • Perhaps someone from another discipline will break the stalemate.
  • The tomb stands as a testament to a living family, separated by history, now struggling to resolve its historic stalemate.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
stalemate (ˈsteɪlˌmeɪt)
 
—n
1.  a chess position in which any of a player's possible moves would place his king in check: in this position the game ends in a draw
2.  a situation in which two opposing forces find that further action is impossible or futile; deadlock
 
—vb
3.  (tr) to subject to a stalemate
 
[C18: from obsolete stale, from Old French estalstall1 + mate²]

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

stalemate
1765, in chess, from stale "stalemate" (1425) + mate "checkmate" (see checkmate). M.E. stale is probably from Anglo-Fr. estale "standstill" (see stall (2)). A misnomer, since a stale is not a mate. "In England from the 17th c. to the beginning
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of the 19th c. the player who received stalemate won the game" [OED]. Fig sense is recorded from 1885.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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