throw down the gauntlet

Idioms  

1. Declare or issue a challenge, as in The senator threw down the gauntlet on the abortion issue. This expression alludes to the medieval practice of a knight throwing down his gauntlet, or metal glove, as a challenge to combat. Its figurative use dates from the second half of the 1700s, as does the less frequently heard take up the gauntlet, for accepting a challenge.

---

Example Sentences

If anyone thought the Kings were hoping to stare across the ice, look the Oilers in the eyes and throw down the gauntlet, he wasn’t among them.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 28, 2024

Food Lifeline’s CEO, Linda Nageotte, says they didn’t move to a livable wage for the praise or to throw down the gauntlet for other nonprofits working in social and human services.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 8, 2022

In a new study, published today in the journal Science Advances, scientists decided to really throw down the gauntlet.

From The Verge • Feb. 13, 2019

Its chair Maria Millerpromised she would "throw down the gauntlet to companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter".

From The Guardian • Jun. 19, 2013

I was scarcely twenty at the time, but I felt strong enough to throw down the gauntlet to the whole world, when it was a question of my rights.

From The German Classics, v. 20 Masterpieces of German Literature by Various

Related Words

• cross swords