Definition & Meaning of "checkmate"

What is "checkmate"?

Checkmate is a situation in chess where a player's king is under direct threat of being captured by an opponent's piece and there is no way to move the king to a safe square, block the attack, or capture the attacking piece. When a king is checkmated, the game ends, and the player whose king has been checkmated loses the game. The goal of chess is to checkmate the opponent’s king while keeping one's own king safe.