stalematenoun [ C or U ]
uk/ˈsteɪl.meɪt/us/ˈsteɪl.meɪt/a situation in which neither group involved in an argument can win or get an advantage and no action can be taken:
Tomorrow's meeting between the two leaders is expected to break a diplomatic stalemate that has lasted for ten years.
Despite long discussions, the workers and the management remain locked in stalemate.
in chess, a position in which one player is unable to move, but their king is not being attacked, which means that neither of the two players wins
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checkmate
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Difficult situations and unpleasant experiences
- a (heavy) cross to bear idiom
- a cloud on the horizon idiom
- a fate worse than death idiom
- a hard/tough row to hoe idiom
- a narrow squeak idiom
- barrel
- bind
- crunch
- curse
- eventuality
- fate
- feeding frenzy
- going
- have a bumpy ride idiom
- rum
- schtuck
- shtook
- standoff
- sticky wicket
- vortex
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