stalemate
/ˈsteɪlmeɪt
/noun [mass noun] Chess
1A position counting as a draw, in which a player is not in check but cannot move except into check: last time I played him it ended up in stalemate...
- The often-criticized rule that stalemate is a draw also increases Chess's drama, by giving a player hope of salvaging something even after he can no longer win.
- Throwing in the proverbial towel is, however, not an option according to the rules of this particular contest, which state that the game can only end with checkmate or stalemate.
- So don't tell me that this game will eventually come to a stalemate like chess, where the player turns over his king and quits.
1.1A situation in which further action or progress by opposing or competing parties seems impossible: the war had again reached stalemate...
- A mediator can break this stalemate and get the parties talking.
- Workers and management at a Great Harwood engineering depot have reached stalemate over pay claims.
- Now officials have warned that if negotiations reach stalemate today they will resort to legal action.
Synonyms
deadlock, impasse, standstill, dead end, stand-off, draw, tie, dead heat
verb [with object]
Bring to or cause to reach stalemate: (as adjective stalemated) the currently stalemated peace talks...
- This article concludes by suggesting ways in which the currently stalemated debate might be revitalized by principled interventions from scholars and concerned citizens.
- Nick managed to move his battered body quickly enough to launch his own counter-blast, successfully stalemating the battleship's beam.
- Fitzsimmons notes that prior to 4 August, debates in the National Assembly were largely stalemated between those legislators who wanted reform and those who wanted to preserve the status quo.
Origin
Mid 18th century: from obsolete stale (from Anglo-Norman French estale 'position', from estaler 'be placed') + mate2.