checkmate 出自国际象棋，等同于汉语里的“将！”。在一方把关键的一个棋子放到致对方于死地的时候说一声“将军！”。不过现在这个短语也用来表达“一次彻底的胜利”。
- The rebels surrounded the president’s palace. He had no option but to agree to their demands: it was checkmate.
- Unless we make some serious changes to this business, the competition will catch up and it will be checkmate.
‘checkmate’ 也可以做为动词:
- Garry Kasparov had the chess computer in checkmate after a fine series of moves.
值得注意的是，stalemate “僵局”和 checkmate 的意思正好相反，stalemate 表示一种双方僵持不下的局面。
- I could only afford £150,000 for the house but the seller would go no lower than £155,000. We reached a stalemate and called the deal off.
#英语口语