- 1[uncountable, countable, usually singular] a disagreement or a situation in a competition in which neither side is able to win or make any progress synonym impasse The talks ended in (a) stalemate. proposals aimed at breaking (= ending) the political stalemate The strike has once again reached stalemate. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivepolitical, current verb + stalemateend in, reach, result in, … stalemate + verbcontinue prepositionstalemate between, stalemate in, stalemate on, … See full entry
- 2[uncountable, singular] (in chess) a situation in which a player cannot successfully move any of their pieces and the game ends without a winner The match ended in (a) stalemate compare checkmate Word Originmid 18th cent.: from obsolete stale (from Anglo-Norman French estale ‘position’, from estaler ‘be placed’) + mate (in the chess sense).Extra examples Efforts to break the stalemate in the peace talks continue. The stalemate in the trade talks continues. The talks reached (a) stalemate. a stalemate between management and unions a stalemate over economic issues
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