gauntlet

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an armored glove; an ordeal or punishment run between two rows

   She threw down the gauntlet, daring her rival to compete.

From Old French 'gantelet', diminutive of 'gant' ('glove'), of Germanic origin (Frankish '*want'); the 'ordeal' sense is from an unrelated word 'gantlope' (Swedish 'gatlopp'), later assimilated to 'gauntlet'.

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