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🇨🇳Chinese Source WordCode: ZH

僵局

Pronunciation / Transliteration: jiāngjú

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Stalemate/ˈsteɪl.meɪt/
nounverbCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #4500 frequency
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🇨🇳 Example Sentence in Chinese:

"谈判陷入了僵局。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A situation in chess in which the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves, resulting in a draw.

    "The game of chess ended in a stalemate."
  2. 2

    A situation in which further action or progress by opposing parties seems impossible; a deadlock.

    "The peace talks reached a stalemate after both sides refused to compromise."
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Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the obsolete chess term 'stale' (meaning 'fixed' or 'standing') combined with 'mate' (from Persian 'mat', meaning 'the king is helpless'). Recorded in English since the late 18th century, it evolved metaphorically from a chess position where no legal moves can be made without placing the king in check to describe any deadlock in negotiations, conflicts, or competitions.

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