Word.ws English Dictionary

thrown down the gauntlet

thrown down the gauntlet is the past participle of throw down the gauntlet.

Meaning of throw down the gauntlet

Verb

throw down the gauntlet (third-person singular simple present throws down the gauntlet, present participle throwing down the gauntlet, simple past threw down the gauntlet, past participle thrown down the gauntlet)

  1. (idiomatic) To issue a challenge.
    • We might as well dispute with Dimock on a Coronation Day, as argue with these Writers. They strut, vapour, throw down the Gauntlet, and defy us to take it up.1730, Caleb d' Anvers (Nicholas Amhurst), The Craftsman, volume 7, page 91

Questions about thrown down the gauntlet

What is thrown down the gauntlet the past participle of?
Thrown down the gauntlet is the past participle of throw down the gauntlet.

Words near thrown down the gauntlet in the dictionary

  1. thrown back
  2. thrown by
  3. thrown caution to the wind
  4. thrown cold water on
  5. thrown down
  6. thrown down the gauntlet
  7. thrown dust in someone's eyes
  8. thrown for a loop
  9. thrown gas on the fire
  10. thrown gasoline on the fire
  11. thrown good money after bad

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: thrown down the gauntlet (page history and authors); throw down the gauntlet (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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