The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Gauntlet \Gaunt"let\, n. (Mil.)
   See Gantlet.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Gauntlet \Gaunt"let\, n. [F. gantelet, dim. of gant glove, LL.
   wantus, of Teutonic origin; cf. D. want, Sw. & Dan. vante,
   Icel. v["o]ttr, for vantr.]
   1. A glove of such material that it defends the hand from
      wounds.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: The gauntlet of the Middle Ages was sometimes of chain
         mail, sometimes of leather partly covered with plates,
         scales, etc., of metal sewed to it, and, in the 14th
         century, became a glove of small steel plates,
         carefully articulated and covering the whole hand
         except the palm and the inside of the fingers.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. A long glove, covering the wrist.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Naut.) A rope on which hammocks or clothes are hung for
      drying.
      [1913 Webster]

   To take up the gauntlet, to accept a challenge.

   To throw down the gauntlet, to offer or send a challenge.
      The gauntlet or glove was thrown down by the knight
      challenging, and was taken up by the one who accepted the
      challenge; -- hence the phrases.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

gauntlet
    n 1: to offer or accept a challenge; "threw down the gauntlet";
         "took up the gauntlet" [syn: gauntlet, gantlet]
    2: a glove of armored leather; protects the hand [syn:
       gauntlet, gantlet, metal glove]
    3: a glove with long sleeve [syn: gauntlet, gantlet]
    4: 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,
       gantlet]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

44 Moby Thesaurus words for "gauntlet":
   battle cry, bid to combat, brass knuckles, cesta, cestus,
   challenge, confinement, dare, defi, defy, dismemberment,
   double dare, estrapade, gage, gage of battle, galleys, glove,
   handwear, hard labor, impalement, imprisonment, incarceration,
   jailing, keelhauling, kid gloves, kids, martyrdom, mittens, mitts,
   mousquetaire gloves, mousquetaires, muff, penal servitude,
   picketing, railriding, rebel yell, rock pile, strappado,
   tar-and-feathering, the gantlet, torment, torture, war cry,
   war whoop