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Glite Dictionary
to throw down the gauntlet

to throw down the gauntlet

4 7.7
To openly challenge someone in front of others
  • idiom
translation icon : lanzar el guante
  • At the meeting, she threw down the gauntlet, daring anyone to question her leadership decisions.
  • throw down the gauntlet and say

Examples

  • In his speech, the politician confidently threw down the gauntlet, challenging his opponent to a debate.

  • They're throwing down the gauntlet.

    Blog text (1)

  • The time's gonna come when I throw down the gauntlet and say, " It's me or her."

    Chasing Amy (1997)

  • The Catholic Church has thrown down the gauntlet in the front lawn of the White House.

    Blog text (1)

  • It is time to throw down the gauntlet, as they say, regarding the Moon.

    Blog text (33)

  • She threw down the gauntlet.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • This was the Pittsburgh Medical Examiner's own Dr. Bennet Omalu, who today threw down the gauntlet at the feet of the National Football League.

    Concussion (2015)

  • To Baker's surprise, the president rejected the package of assurances the secretary had carefully assembled and decided to throw down the gauntlet to Israel and its supporters.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Over the years he's built dozens, but for this week's episode of The Ben Heck Show he's throwing down the gauntlet and building the smallest Xbox laptop ever.

    Blog text (31)

  • When the team captain announced the new training schedule, he threw down the gauntlet to the entire team to step up their game.

Synonyms

to throw down a challenge
vsto throw down the gauntlet
  • Informal
1 5.4

Openly invite someone to compete with you

is bolder and more confrontational in tone
to call out
vsto throw down the gauntlet
  • Archaic
9.9

Challenge someone to a duel because of an insult

is a public bold dare rather than a private formal duel

Antonyms

to retract
  • Formal
41 6.0

To take back a statement or opinion in public

How Confrontational

to call out
  • Archaic
9.9
to throw down the gauntlet
4 7.7
to challenge
355 3.0

Surface Forms

throw down the gauntlet infinitive
throwing down the gauntlet present participle
throws down the gauntlet third person singular
threw down the gauntlet past
thrown down the gauntlet past participle

Morphology

throw + down + the + gauntlet

The meaning is partly compositional: if a learner knows 'throw down' (to cast something down) and 'gauntlet' as a symbol of a challenge, they can piece together that throwing down a gauntlet means issuing a challenge. However, 'gauntlet' in this figurative sense is archaic and culturally specific and the connection relies on historical knowledge, so the phrase is not fully predictable for uninformed B1 learners.

Etymology

The idiom throw down the gauntlet comes from knights in the past. When a knight wanted to start a fight, he would throw his metal glove, a gauntlet, onto the ground as a clear challenge. So, today it means 'to publicly issue a challenge'.