Gauntlet Definition

gôntlit, gäntlit
gantlet
noun
A medieval glove, usually of leather covered with metal plates, worn by knights in armor to protect the hand in combat.
Webster's New World
A long glove with a flaring cuff covering the lower part of the arm.
Webster's New World
Any of various protective gloves, usually with an extended or flared cuff, as used in certain sports such as fencing and motorcycle riding, in cooking to handle hot objects, and other activities.
American Heritage
The flaring cuff.
Webster's New World
A challenge.
Throw down the gauntlet; take up the gauntlet.
American Heritage
idiom
take up the gauntlet
  • to accept a challenge
  • to undertake the defense of a person, etc.
Webster's New World
throw down the gauntlet
  • to challenge, as to combat
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Gauntlet

Noun

Singular:
gauntlet
Plural:
gauntlets

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Gauntlet

Origin of Gauntlet

  • Alteration (influenced by gauntlet) of gantlope from Swedish gatlopp gata lane (from Old Norse ghē- in Indo-European roots) lopp course, running (from Middle Low German lōp)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English "glove", also gantelet, from Old French gantelet (“gauntlet worn by a knight in armor, a token of one's personality or person, and symbolizing a challenge”), diminutive of gant (“glove”)

    From Wiktionary

  • From gantlope, from Swedish gatlopp (“passageway”), from Old Swedish gata (“lane”) + lopp (“course”), from löpa (“to run”)

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old French gantelet diminutive of gant glove from Frankish want

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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