stalemate

noun stale·mate \ ˈstāl-ˌmāt \

|Updated on: 9 Jun 2018

Examples: stalemate in a Sentence

Definition of stalemate

1 : a drawing position in chess in which a player is not in checkmate but has no legal move to play

2 : a drawn contest : deadlock; also : the state of being stalemated

See stalemate defined for English-language learners

See stalemate defined for kids

Examples of stalemate in a Sentence

The budget debate ended in a stalemate.
The new agreement could break the stalemate.
The budget debate ended in stalemate.

Recent Examples of stalemate from the Web

Attempts to find some middle ground—allowing users the choice to compensate publishers and content creators instead of facing an avalanche of ads—may prove a good way to break the stalemate.

— chris baraniuk, Scientific American, "Where Will the Ad versus Ad Blocker Arms Race End?," 31 May 2018
The country's first parliamentary elections in nine years ended years of political stalemate over a new election law and repeated extension of the parliament's terms.

— Fox News, "Lebanese longtime parliament speaker re-elected to post," 23 May 2018
That stalemate was largely due to disagreements about who should be allowed to have sports betting — casinos and/or horse racing tracks.

— Washington Post, "Preakness could leave aging Pimlico, move to Laurel Park," 16 May 2018
Although this stalemate over funding could be an insurmountable impasse for policymakers seeking to implement a federal UBI, states and municipalities are putting their toes in the water with smaller-scale experiments.

— NBC News, "Finland's experiment with giving away money shines a light on the idea of universal basic income," 29 Apr. 2018
Fisher broke open the 1-1 stalemate with a solo shot in the third off of R.J. Alaniz.

— cheryl wray, AL.com, "Birmingham Barons beat Montgomery Biscuits in home opener," 12 Apr. 2018
In some ways, though, the stalemate is exactly what’s supposed to happen in the current system if personalities or politics get in the way.

— dan horn, Cincinnati.com, "Why Cincinnati is stuck with a mayor and city manager who can't stand each other," 19 Mar. 2018
After years of stalemate in Congress, states turned to the courts, and the Supreme Court next month will hear arguments on whether states can require such collection.

— wsj staff, WSJ, "Eight Key Battles in the Spending Bill Fight," 10 Mar. 2018
For a moment the end of the stalemate seems near, but the FBI's tactical division turns up the heat on David Koresh (Taylor Kitsch) and the Branch Davidians in this new episode of the historical drama.

— ed stockly, latimes.com, "Wednesday's TV highlights; 'Channel Zero: Butcher's Block' on Syfy," 21 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stalemate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of stalemate

obsolete English stale stalemate (from Middle English, from Anglo-French estaler to stalemate, from estal station, position) + English ¹mate — more at installment

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1765

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

stalemate Synonyms

Synonyms

deadlock, gridlock, halt, impasse, logjam, standoff, standstill;

Related Words

dead end;

bind, bottleneck, corner, dilemma, fix, hole, jam, morass, pickle, pinch, plight, predicament, quagmire, quandary, spot;

difficulty;

problem;

Other Game Terms

bezique, carom, convention, crap, euchre, gambit, monte, parlay, tierce

stalemate

verb

Definition of stalemate

stalemated; stalemating; stalemates

transitive verb

: to bring into a stalemate

Recent Examples of stalemate from the Web

With the bases loaded and the game stalemated at 1-1 at the top of the eighth inning, a pair of infield errors by Apopka helped the Huskies score two runs.

— OrlandoSentinel.com, "Hagerty takes down Apopka 5-1 in extra innings," 7 Apr. 2018
Throw in hot weather and a confusing war that has stalemated much of the progress that was being made or could be made.

— burt solomon, The Atlantic, "Our Back Pages: The Atlantic and Civil Rights," 4 Apr. 2018
But after the convention stalemated for 35 ballots, delegates stampeded to an alternative all knew as a competent and intelligent candidate, Garfield himself.

— kenneth d. ackerman, Smithsonian, "The Garfield Assassination Altered American History, But Is Woefully Forgotten Today," 2 Mar. 2018
And partisan differences have stalemated spending bills in the Senate.

— sarah binder, Washington Post, "Four takeaways from the short-lived shutdown," 24 Jan. 2018
But Larson was among the 105 representatives to approve the bill after debate ended, though property tax reform ultimately failed when the two chambers stalemated.

— jasper scherer, San Antonio Express-News, "Abbott ad targets Larson’s voting record," 20 Feb. 2018
But the truth is that the battle was stalemated until Trump came into office and unleashed the military with new rules of engagement.

— jonathan s. tobin, National Review, "What Syria Teaches Us About ‘America First’," 25 Jan. 2018
Instead, everyone lines up and simply tries to plug his hole or stalemate his blocker.

— andy benoit, SI.com, "What’s Wrong With the Patriots Defense? Plenty," 8 Sep. 2017
But both presidents shared similar impatience with a balky Congress and a desire to take action when stalemated.

— peter baker, New York Times, "Trump Adopts Obama Approach While Seeking to Undo a Legacy," 13 Oct. 2017

First Known Use of stalemate

1765

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Game Terms

bezique, carom, convention, crap, euchre, gambit, monte, parlay, tierce

STALEMATE Defined for English Language Learners

stalemate

noun

Definition of stalemate for English Language Learners

: a contest, dispute, competition, etc., in which neither side can gain an advantage or win
: a situation in chess in which a player cannot successfully move any of the pieces and neither player can win