gladiator

What it means

1. Ancient RomeA person (professional or slave) who entertained the public by engaging in mortal combat with another, or with a wild animal.

   My mother prepared herself for the evening with the same somber deliberateness of the gladiators in Spartacus.

   2002, Dirk Wittenborn, Fierce People

   1 more example

   And it's because something of the mundanely manual still adheres to darts that the players' heroic walk of honour from the green room to the oche is so incongruous. The fanfare begins, the strobes go wild, the crowds roar, hostesses wearing the sort of tinsel dresses that drove me crazy when I was eighteen escort the gladiator into the arena, only he's not a gladiator, he's a plumber.

   2017, Howard Jacobson, “The Wages of Indulgence is Darts”, in The Dog’s Last Walk (and Other Pieces), London; New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN

2. broadlyA disputant in a public controversy or debate.
3. A professional boxer.

In a sentence

My mother prepared herself for the evening with the same somber deliberateness of the gladiators in Spartacus.

2002, Dirk Wittenborn, Fierce People

Where it comes from

1. Latingladiātor
2. Englishgladiator

From Latin gladiātor, from gladius (“sword”). See also English gladius.