Meaning & use
stalemate
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
A situation in a dispute or contest where neither side can move forward or win, so nothing changes.
Grammar: Often a stalemate, or without an article: the talks reached stalemate.
Patterns
- a stalemate in something
- reach a stalemate
The talks ended in a stalemate after two weeks.
Both sides refused to move, leaving the strike in stalemate.
A stalemate over funding delayed the new bridge.
nouncountabletechnical
In chess, a position where the player to move has no legal move but is not in check, so the game is a draw.
Grammar: Used as a countable noun in chess: the game ended in stalemate.
Patterns
- end in stalemate
She saved the game by forcing a stalemate.
He blundered into stalemate when he was winning.
verbtransitive
To bring a dispute or contest to a stalemate, or to be stuck in one.
Grammar: Usually passive: the talks were stalemated.
Patterns
- be stalemated
The negotiations were stalemated by a single clause.
Rain stalemated the battle for days.
Word forms
| third person singular | stalemates |
|---|---|
| past tense | stalemated |
| past participle | stalemated |
| -ing form | stalemating |
Common combinations
- reach a stalemate
- The union and the company reached a stalemate.
- break the stalemate
- A new offer finally broke the stalemate.
- end in stalemate
- The match ended in stalemate.
- political stalemate
- A political stalemate stopped the budget.
- deadlocked in a stalemate
- The parties stayed deadlocked in a stalemate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- deadlock
- Deadlock stresses being completely stuck, while stalemate also names a specific chess result.
- impasse
- Impasse is a more formal word for a situation with no way out.
- standoff
- Standoff suggests a tense face-to-face confrontation, often with threat.
- draw
- Draw is the sports result of no winner, with no sense of being stuck.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: stalemate or checkmate? stalemate or staleness?
stalemate vs checkmate
Checkmate ends a chess game with a win, while stalemate ends it in a draw.
stalemate vs staleness
Staleness means being no longer fresh and is unrelated.
Practice
The two sides refused to compromise, and talks reached a stalemate. What happened?
Choose one answer.
A stalemate is a deadlock where nobody can advance. If a side won or an agreement was signed, the dispute would not be stuck.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stalemate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.