Dictionary

stalemate en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsteɪlmeɪt/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From stale + mate.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The state in which the player to move is not in check but has no legal moves, resulting in a draw.
   • The game is drawn when the player to move has no legal move and his/her king is not in check. The game is said to end in ‘stalemate’. This immediately ends the game, provided that the move producing the stalemate position was in accordance with Article 3 and Articles 4.2 – 4.7. 2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2025, page 10:
2. (broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable) Any situation that has no obvious possible movement, but involves no personal loss.
   • "Short of shooting us all in cold blood how's that going to help you, Mr. Carrados?" asked Larch, coming down to the commonplace of the situation. "It looks like stalemate to me and the sensible thing would be to make it a draw and all call off in good order. […]" 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
   • Indian military analysts said the situation was heading into a dangerous stalemate. Neither side wants to start a war. But neither side wants to back down either. 2020 September 8, Jeffrey Gettleman, “Shots Fired Along India-China Border for First Time in Years”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Sep 2020:
3. (countable, uncountable) Any kind of match in which neither contestant laid claim to victory; a draw.

Forms

Deriveds

stalemater

Translations (92)

fi patti (chess term) · lt patas (chess term) · cs pat (chess term) · la stancamentum (chess term) · ko 교착상태 (blocked situation without personal loss) · ka ფათი (chess term) · uk пат (chess term) · fi pattitilanne (blocked situation without personal loss) · lv pats (chess term) · kk пат (chess term) · mk ќор-сока́к (blocked situation without personal loss) · bg безизхо́дица (blocked situation without personal loss) · it stallo (blocked situation without personal loss) · es punto muerto (blocked situation without personal loss) · pl pat (chess term) · et patiseis (blocked situation without personal loss) · ga leamhsháinn (chess term) · de Pattsituation (blocked situation without personal loss) · cmn 困斃 /困毙 (chess term) · hy պատ (chess term) · cmn 無子可動 /无子可动 (chess term) · de Stillstand (blocked situation without personal loss) · pl impas (blocked situation without personal loss) · ro pat (chess term) · hu patthelyzet (blocked situation without personal loss) · el πατ (chess term) · is patt (chess term) · ru тупи́к (blocked situation without personal loss) · de Sackgasse (blocked situation without personal loss) · ar مَأْزِق (blocked situation without personal loss) · ar طَرِيق مَسْدُود (blocked situation without personal loss) · de festgefahrene Lage (blocked situation without personal loss) · eo pato (chess term) · be пат (chess term) · it punto morto (blocked situation without personal loss) · el αδιέξοδο (chess term) · cy methmat (chess term) · mi whakamāraritanga (blocked situation without personal loss) · sh па̏т (chess term) · bg пат (chess term) · sv patt (chess term) · sl pat (chess term) · ru пат (blocked situation without personal loss) · ja 行き詰り (blocked situation without personal loss) · es estancamiento (blocked situation without personal loss) · fa پات (chess term) · cmn 僵局 (blocked situation without personal loss) · cy anghytundeb llwyr (blocked situation without personal loss) · tr pat (chess term) · mk пат (chess term) · te ప్రతిష్టంభన (blocked situation without personal loss) · sh pȁt (chess term) · ar رَدْب (chess term) · la matum stabilis (chess term) · it vicolo cieco (blocked situation without personal loss) · ja ステイルメイト (chess term) · de Stocken (blocked situation without personal loss) · ru пат (chess term) · hi ज़िच (chess term) · ko 스테일메이트 (chess term) · ru безвы́ходное положе́ние (blocked situation without personal loss) · fr impasse (blocked situation without personal loss) · pl sytuacja patowa (blocked situation without personal loss) · nb patt (chess term) · hy պատ (blocked situation without personal loss) · nl pat (chess term) · io pato (chess term) · cmn 無子可動 /无子可动 (chess term) · pt afogamento (chess term) · pl pat (blocked situation without personal loss) · hu patthelyzet (chess term) · pt impasse (blocked situation without personal loss) · de Pattstellung (chess term) · et patt (chess term) · it stallo (chess term) · fr pat (chess term) · pt beco sem saída (blocked situation without personal loss) · es ahogado (chess term) · sk pat (chess term) · ca taules (chess term) · da pat (chess term) · vi hết nước đi (chess term) · el αδιέξοδο (blocked situation without personal loss) · es tablas (chess term) · cmn 對峙 /对峙 (blocked situation without personal loss) · de Patt (chess term) · hu patt (chess term) · nl patstelling (chess term) · cmn 欠行 (chess term) · it impasse (blocked situation without personal loss) · es rey ahogado (chess term) · de verfahrene Lage (blocked situation without personal loss)

stalemate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈsteɪlmeɪt/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From stale + mate.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To bring about a state in which the player to move is not in check but has no legal moves.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To bring about a stalemate, in which no advance in an argument is achieved.
   • The North Korean nuclear issue, stalemated for the past three years, is now back in play again—not before time. 2012 February 29, Aidan Foster-Carter, “North Korea: The denuclearisation dance resumes”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2025:
   • But with the war also still largely stalemated, other theatres of conflict have become more important. In Russia’s case, that includes the secret domain. 2024 March 18, Dan Sabbagh, “Volkov attack signals Russia’s return to cold war-era spying in Europe”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 Apr 2025:

Forms

Relateds

checkmate · check