Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CHECK'-MATE, n. [See Check. Mate is from the root of the Sp. and Port. matar, to kill. Ar. Ch. Syr. Heb. Eth. Sam. מות moth, to die, to kill.]

1. The movement on a chess-board or in the game of chess that kills the opposite men, or hinders them from moving, so that the game is finished.
2. Defeat; overthrow. – Spenser.