gantlet (2), gauntlet, gantelope, gantlope

Gantlope is the most correct form, being nasalized from Sw. gatlopp a running down a lane, because the offender has to run between two files or rows of soldiers, ., who strike him as he pa es; gat a =a gate, a lane, and lopp =a course, a running; löpa to run, cogn. with Eng. leap (q.v.). The spelling gauntlet arose from a confusion with gant let (1), a form of gauntlet (q.v.). ( Skeat.)] Mil .: A kind of military punishment, in which the prisoner, stripped to his waist, had to run between two files of soldiers armed with sticks or other instruments, with which they struck him as he pa ed. To run the gauntlet: 1. Lit .: To suffer the punishment described above. "Some said he ought to be tied neck and heels; others, that he deserved to run the gantelope."- Fielding : Tor Jones , bk. vii., ch. xi. 2. Fig .: To run or pa through a course of severe treatment, criticism, or opposition. "To print is to run the gantlet, and to expose one's self to the tongues-strappado." - Glanvill: On Dogmatizing. (Pref.) *gant-lope, *gante-lope, s. [GANTLET (2).] găn-try, s. [GAUNTREE.] *gan-ye, *gain-ye, *gen-yie, *gayn-yhe, & [Prob. the same as gin (2) (q. v.).] 1. An arrow; a dart; a javelin. "Sche that was in that craft rycht expert, Glidis away vnder the fomy seis, Als swift as gan ye or fedderit arrow fleis." Douglas: Virgil, 323, 46. IMG:content-0324.png:[blocks in formation] Găn'-ỹ-mēde, s. [Lat. Ganymedes.] 1. Cla . Mythol.: The son of Tros and Callirhoë; Jupiter carried him off and made him his cupbearer. 2. Astron.: One of the satellites of Jupiter. Discovered by Galileo at Padua, January 7, 1610. găn-zą, s . [M. H. Ger. ganze O. H. Ger. gan azo ; Sp.gans a =a gander.] A kind of wild goose, by a flock of which in the fictitious narrative of Cyrand de Bergerac (1649) the chariot of Gonzales is represented as being drawn to the moon. "They are but idle dreams and fancies, And savor strongly of the ganzaes ." Butler: Hudibras , pt. ii., c. iii. IMG:content-0325.png:[blocks in formation] 2. An opening; a pa age; a means of entrance or exit; an avenue. "The gap which for just considerations wee open unto some, letteth in others through corrupt practices."- Bp . Hooker: Ecclesiastical Polity , bk. v., § 81. 3. A hiatus, a blank, a void, a vacuity. "Then follows an immense gap , in which, undonbtedly, some changes were made by time."- Burke : Abridgment of English History , bk. ii., ch. vii. *4. A defect, a flaw. "If you violently proceed against him, mistaking his purpose, it would make a great gap in your honor."Shakesp.: Lear , i. 2. To stop a gap : To repair a defect or weak point; to supply a temporary want. (2) To stand in the gap : To expose one's self to danger in order to protect some person or thing. "I sought for a man that should stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it." Ezekiel xxii. 30. For the difference between gap and breach . see BREACH. *gap-way, s. A way through. *gap-wide, s. Wide open. IMG:content-0326.png:[blocks in formation] găp, v. t. [GAP, 8.] gap 1. To indent or notch, as the edge of a sword. 2. To breach, to open a pa age through. "Ready! take aim at their leaders, their ma es are gapped with our grape." Tennyson: Defense of Lucknow, iii.