1. to offer or accept a challenge - threw down the gauntlet - took up the gauntlet • Syn: gauntlet • Hypernyms: challenge 2. a glove of armored leather; protects the hand • Syn: gauntlet, metal glove • Hypernyms: glove • Part Holonyms: body armor, body armour, suit of armor, suit of armour, coat of mail, cataphract 3. a glove with long sleeve • Syn: gauntlet • Hypernyms: glove 4. the convergence of two parallel railroad tracks in a narrow place; the inner rails cross and run parallel and then diverge so a train remains on its own tracks at all times • Hypernyms: railroad track, railroad, railway 5. 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 • Hypernyms: corporal punishment