Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Gantlet \Gant"let\, n. [Gantlet is corrupted fr. gantlope;
   gantlope is for gatelope, Sw. gatlopp, orig., a running down
   a lane; gata street, lane + lopp course, career, akin to
   l["o]pa to run. See {Gate} a way, and {Leap}.]
   A military punishment formerly in use, wherein the offender
   was made to run between two files of men facing one another,
   who struck him as he passed.

   {To run the gantlet}, to suffer the punishment of the
      gantlet; hence, to go through the ordeal of severe
      criticism or controversy, or ill-treatment at many hands.

            Winthrop ran the gantlet of daily slights.
                                                  --Palfrey.

   Note: Written also, but less properly, gauntlet.

Gantlet \Gant"let\, n.
   A glove. See {Gauntlet}.

Source : WordNet®

gantlet
     n 1: to offer or accept a challenge; "threw down the gauntlet";
          "took up the gauntlet" [syn: {gauntlet}]
     2: a glove of armored leather; protects the hand [syn: {gauntlet},
         {metal glove}]
     3: a glove with long sleeve [syn: {gauntlet}]
     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
     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}]