run the gauntlet

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

We witnessed the threat first-hand as she prepared to run the gauntlet of Houthi drones and missiles being fired from Yemen.

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Waitrose has run the gauntlet of disgruntled loyal customers before.

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"Significant numbers of elderly people don't have internet access at all - leaving them with little choice but to run the gauntlet of ticket machines which either don't offer the best prices, or make it difficult to find the appropriate fares," he added.

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But he added: "My guess is that the drone was launched from far closer in than that, as this would avoid it having to run the gauntlet of much of Moscow's defences."

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Day after day, during the Macpherson Inquiry hearings into the botched murder investigation, I would watch from the media pen as Doreen braced herself to run the gauntlet of the cameras waiting to catch her as she arrived.

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