I. ˈgȯntlə̇t, ˈgän-, ˈgȧn-, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English gauntlette, from Middle French gantelet, diminutive of gant glove, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Middle Low German & Middle Dutch want, wante mitten, Old Norse vöttr gloves and perhaps to Old Norse vöndr wand — more at wand
1. : a glove designed to protect the hand from injury: as
a. : a reinforced glove used with armor during the middle ages and evolving with such armor to become in the 14th century a covering of small minutely articulated steel plates for the whole back of the hand, fingers, and thumb — see armor illustration
b. : cestus II
c. : any of various gloves used primarily for protection of the hands (as in industry), extending usually well above the wrist, and being of strong and often impervious material (as rubber or asbestos)
2. : a challenge to combat — usually used as the object of throw down or take up
threw down the gauntlet , defying the whole world
a tense situation and apparently no one dared to take up the gauntlet
3.
a. also gauntlet glove : a dress glove extending above the wrist and having a deep flared, circular, or otherwise expanded cuff
b. : the cuff of any gauntlet
II. noun
or gant·let “
( -s )
Etymology: by folk etymology (influence of gauntlet ) (I) from gantelope
1. : two rows of men facing each other and armed with clubs or other weapons with which they strike at an individual who is made to run between them
forced to run a gauntlet of clubs, revolver butts, and blackjacks — Harper's
some had been beaten with gun butts, some made to run a gauntlet barefoot — Newsweek
2. : a cross fire of any kind
run the gauntlet of cannon and machine-gun blasts from each level — Byron Kennerly
walked a gauntlet of spitting demonstrators at the airport — United Press
ran the candidate through a savage gauntlet of technical questions — Alva Johnston
ran the gauntlet of interested glances — Hortense Calisher
broadly : an ordeal or test
American graduates must run the gauntlet of American life — Perry Miller
the treaty has to run a formidable gauntlet — New Republic