gauntlet
n. countablen. a heavy glove used in the past to protect a soldier's hand. Today, it is mostly used in the phrase 'throw down the gauntlet' to mean you are challenging someone to a fight or competition.
n. a protective glove, historically made of leather or metal, covering the hand and wrist. In modern usage, it appears primarily in idiomatic expressions regarding challenges or difficult trials.
The knight pulled on his heavy steel gauntlet before the battle.
The company threw down the gauntlet by releasing a cheaper, faster version of its rival's best product.
To earn her degree while working full-time, she had to run the gauntlet of sleepless nights, constant deadlines, and high-stakes examinations.
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”) ]
Commonly used in the idioms 'throw down the gauntlet' (to issue a challenge) and 'run the gauntlet' (to endure a series of problems).
run the gantletrun the gauntletWhile 'gantlet' is a historical spelling for the ordeal, 'gauntlet' is the standard modern spelling for both the glove and the challenge.