run the gauntlet

Idioms  

1. Be exposed to danger, criticism, or other adversity, as in After he was misquoted in the interview, he knew he would have to run the gauntlet of his colleagues' anger. This term, dating from the first half of the 1600s, comes from the word gantlope, which itself comes from the Swedish word gatlopp, for “lane-course.” It referred to a form of military punishment where a man ran between two rows of soldiers who struck him with sticks or knotted ropes. Almost as soon as gantlope appeared, it was replaced by gauntlet. The word was being used figuratively for other kinds of punishment by 1661, when Joseph Glanvill wrote, “To print, is to run the gantlet, and to expose oneself to the tongues strapado” (The Vanity of Dogmatizing, or Confidence in Opinion).

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

run the gauntlet

While some tankers have sailed through, several owners said they aren’t willing to run the gauntlet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

The ECB on Thursday may well reveal how it plans to run the gauntlet.

From Reuters ● Oct. 27, 2022

In normal times, this wouldn't matter but in the pandemic it can mean having to run the gauntlet of roadblocks to travel from where you live to where you work.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2022

“It’s a test of voters to run the gauntlet, to figure out these new rules and restrictions,” Hewitt said.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2021

Fiat taxis run the gauntlet, honking promiscuously above Arabic monologs droning from speakers.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro