Refine this word faster
Gauntlet
Definitions
- 1 Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat.
"The hands were defended by Gauntlets, these were sometimes of chain mail, but oftener of small plates of iron rivetted together, in imitation of the lobster's tail, so as to yield every motion of the hand, some gauntlets inclosed the whole hand, as in a box or case, others were divided into fingers, each finger consisting of eight or ten separate pieces, the inside gloved with buff leather, some of these reached no higher than the wrist, others to the elbow; the latter were stiled long armed gauntlets: many of them are to be seen in the Tower; for a representation of one of them, see plate 26, fig 6."
- 2 Two parallel rows of attackers who strike at a criminal as punishment. archaic
- 3 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 wordnet
- 4 A long glove covering the wrist.
"The hawk no longer darts forth from the gauntlet to soar through the air for his prey."
- 5 A simultaneous attack from two or more sides.
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 a glove with long sleeve wordnet
- 7 A rope on which hammocks or clothes are hung for drying.
- 8 Any challenging, difficult, or painful ordeal, often one performed for atonement or punishment. figuratively
"[John] Winthrop ran the gantlet of daily slights from his neighbors."
- 9 a glove of armored leather; protects the hand wordnet
- 10 An eruption of pellagra on the hands.
- 11 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.
- 12 to offer or accept a challenge wordnet
Etymology
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”) ]
See also for "gauntlet"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: gauntlet