throw down the gauntlet

English

Alternative forms

• throw down the gantlet

Etymology

From the late medieval custom symbolizing a challenge, in French jeter le gant which nowadays usually means to give up after having tried hard (leaving the challenge to any takers). The English phrase dates to the 1540s (figurative use by the 18th century).

Pronunciation

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Verb

throw down the gauntlet (third-person singular simple present throws down the gauntlet, present participle throwing down the gauntlet, simple past threw down the gauntlet, past participle thrown down the gauntlet)

1. (idiomatic) To issue a challenge.
   • 1730, Caleb d' Anvers (Nicholas Amhurst), The Craftsman‎^[1], volume 7, page 91:

     We might as well dispute with Dimock on a Coronation Day, as argue with these Writers. They strut, vapour, throw down the Gauntlet, and defy us to take it up.

Derived terms

• throw down, throw-down

Related terms

• take up the gauntlet

Translations

issue a challenge

• Catalan: llançar el guant
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 挑戰／挑战 (zh) (tiǎozhàn)

• Dutch: iemand uitdagen
• Finnish: heittää taisteluhansikas
• French: jeter le gant (fr)
• German: den Fehdehandschuh hinwerfen (de)
• Indonesian: mengajukan tantangan, menantang (id)
• Polish: rzucać rękawicę impf, rzucić rękawicę pf
• Spanish: arrojar el guante
• Swedish: kasta handsken

See also

• throw one's hat in the ring