Meanings
gantlet1
gantlet2
plural gantlets
- USalternativeAlternative spelling of gauntlet.
[John] Winthrop ran the gantlet of daily slights from his neighbors.
1858, John Gorham Palfrey, chapter XII, in History of New England during the Stuart Dynasty. […], volume I, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, →OCLC, book I, page 481
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna 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
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
gantlet · noun
- Old Frenchgantelet“gauntlet”
- Middle Englishgauntelett
- Englishgantlet
From Middle English gauntelett, gantlett, a borrowing from Old French gantelet (“gauntlet”). More at gauntlet.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →gantlet · noun
- Old Swedishgata“lane”
- Swedishgatlopp“passageway”
- Englishgantlet
Modified, under the influence of etymology 1, from gantlope, from Swedish gatlopp (“passageway”), from Old Swedish gata (“lane”) + lopp (“course”), from löpa (“to run”).
More words from Swedish, Old Swedish
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gantlet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gantlet
“gantlet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gantlet. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gantlet,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gantlet.
Source: gantlet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.