gauntlet1
• noun 1 a stout glove with a long loose wrist. 2 a glove worn as part of medieval armour, made of leather with protective steel plates. — PHRASES take up (or throw down) the gauntlet accept (or issue) a challenge. from the medieval custom of issuing a challenge by throwing one’s gauntlet to the ground; whoever picked it up was deemed to have accepted the challenge. — ORIGIN Old French gantelet, from gant ‘glove’.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
| 
