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Definition of "gauntlet" []

  • A protective glove worn with medieval armor. (noun)
  • A protective glove with a flared cuff, used in manual labor, in certain sports, and for driving. (noun)
  • A challenge: throw down the gauntlet; take up the gauntlet. (noun)
  • A dress glove cuffed above the wrist. (noun)
  • A form of punishment or torture in which people armed with sticks or other weapons arrange themselves in two lines facing each other and beat the person forced to run between them. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "gauntlet" in a sentence
  • "Her skill-power comes along when she steals a gauntlet from the villainous Lord Licorice."
  • "Running the gauntlet is expressed as: Élla tuvo aguantar el acoso de los fotógrafos [She had to run the gauntlet of the photographers]."
  • "I have to tell you, one of the benefit s of running this 22 month gauntlet is that you have been through some ups and you have been through some downs."
Words like "gauntlet"
running the gauntlet
take up the gauntlet
throw down the gauntlet