From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gauntlet \Gaunt"let\, n. (Mil.)
See {Gantlet}.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Gauntlet \Gaunt"let\, n. [F. gantelet, dim. of gant glove, LL.
wantus, of Teutonic origin; cf. D. want, Sw. & Dan. vante,
Icel. v["o]ttr, for vantr.]
1. A glove of such material that it defends the hand from
wounds.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The gauntlet of the Middle Ages was sometimes of chain
mail, sometimes of leather partly covered with plates,
scales, etc., of metal sewed to it, and, in the 14th
century, became a glove of small steel plates,
carefully articulated and covering the whole hand
except the palm and the inside of the fingers.
[1913 Webster]
2. A long glove, covering the wrist.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Naut.) A rope on which hammocks or clothes are hung for
drying.
[1913 Webster]
{To take up the gauntlet}, to accept a challenge.
{To throw down the gauntlet}, to offer or send a challenge.
The gauntlet or glove was thrown down by the knight
challenging, and was taken up by the one who accepted the
challenge; -- hence the phrases.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
gauntlet
n 1: to offer or accept a challenge; "threw down the gauntlet";
"took up the gauntlet" [syn: {gauntlet}, {gantlet}]
2: a glove of armored leather; protects the hand [syn:
{gauntlet}, {gantlet}, {metal glove}]
3: a glove with long sleeve [syn: {gauntlet}, {gantlet}]
4: 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 [syn: {gauntlet},
{gantlet}]
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