CHECKMATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does checkmate mean? 

• CHECKMATE (noun)
  The noun CHECKMATE has 2 senses:

1. complete victory

2. a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king

  Familiarity information: CHECKMATE used as a noun is rare.

• CHECKMATE (verb)
  The verb CHECKMATE has 1 sense:

1. place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game

  Familiarity information: CHECKMATE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHECKMATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Complete victory

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("checkmate" is a kind of...):

triumph; victory (a successful ending of a struggle or contest)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

checkmate; mate

Hypernyms ("checkmate" is a kind of...):

chess move (the act of moving a chess piece)

Derivation:

checkmate (place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game)

• CHECKMATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they checkmate    ... he / she / it checkmates   
Past simple: checkmated   
Past participle: checkmated   
-ing form: checkmating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

checkmate; mate

Context example:

Kasparov checkmated his opponent after only a few moves

Hypernyms (to "checkmate" is one way to...):

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)

Domain category:

chess; chess game (a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Sam cannot checkmate Sue

Derivation:

checkmate (a chess move constituting an inescapable and indefensible attack on the opponent's king)

 Context examples 

‘They may do what they like, but I’ll checkmate them still,’ said he with an oath. ‘Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.’

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)