Meaning

9 senses
  1. Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat.

    Kampfhandschuh, Fehdehandschuh, Panzerhandschuh

    перча́ткаperčátka, ла́тная рукави́цаlátnaja rukavíca, рукави́цаrukavíca

  2. A long glove covering the wrist.

    Stulpe

    a glove with long sleeve

  3. A rope on which hammocks or clothes are hung for drying.

  4. An eruption of pellagra on the hands.

  5. A simultaneous attack from two or more sides.

  6. (figuratively)Any challenging, difficult, or painful ordeal, often one performed for atonement or punishment.

    Spießrutenlauf

  7. A fight against swarms of relatively minor enemies in the form of multiple waves, often but not always preceding a boss.

  8. Overlapping parallel rail tracks; either to allowing passage through a narrow opening in each direction without switching, or to allow vehicles of a larger gauge to pass through a station without hitting the platforms.

  9. (archaic)Two parallel rows of attackers who strike at a criminal as punishment.

    Spießrutenlauf

Examples

5 sentences
  1. We had to run the gauntlet of entrenched defenders.

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  2. Will she be able to pick up the gauntlet?

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  3. Will you be able to pick up the gauntlet?

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  4. Tom was so angry that he was about to throw down the gauntlet.

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  5. Tom threw down the gauntlet. He was ready to fight.

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Translations

7 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
protective armor for the hands:
Deutsch
By meaning 3
protective armor for the hands:
glove covering the wrist:
two parallel rows of attackers who strike at a criminal:

Origin

From Middle English gauntelett, gantlett, a borrowing from Old French gantelet (“gauntlet

From Middle English gauntelett, gantlett, a borrowing 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”), a borrowing from Frankish *want (“glove; mitten”) and reinforced by Medieval Latin wantus (“glove”) itself borrowed from the former, from Proto-Germanic *wantuz (“glove; mitten”). Cognate with Dutch want (“mitten; shroud”), German Low German Want (“shroud”), Danish vante (“mitten”), Swedish vante (“glove; mitten”), Faroese vøttur (“glove; mitten”).

Modified, under the influence of etymology 1, from gantlope, from Swedish gatlopp (“passageway”), from Old Swedish gata (“lane”) + lopp (“course”), from löpa (“to run”)

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Forms

plural: gauntlets

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • a form of punishment in which a person is forced to run between two lines of men facing each other and armed with clubs or whips to beat the victim:gantlet
  • a glove with long sleeve:gantlet
  • a glove of armored leather; protects the hand:gantletmetal glove
  • to offer or accept a challenge:gantlet

Word family

3 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
gauntlet — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto