gauntlet: Meaning and Definition of

gaunt•let

1. a medieval glove, as of mail or plate, worn by a knight in armor to protect the hand.
2. a glove with an extended cuff for the wrist.
3. the cuff itself.
4. He was always willing to take up the gauntlet for a good cause.
1. to accept a challenge to fight:He was always willing to take up the gauntlet for a good cause.
2. to show one's defiance. Also,take up the glove.
1. to challenge.
2. to defy.

gaunt•let

1. a former punishment, chiefly military, in which the offender was made to run between two rows of men who struck at him with switches or weapons as he passed.
2. the two rows of men administering this punishment.
3. an attack from two or all sides.
4. trying conditions; an ordeal.
5. gantlet (def. 1).
6. to suffer severe criticism or tribulation.

1. gantlet (def. 3).