CliffsNotes To Go Sweepstakes -- Enter Now to Win an iPod touch Loaded with Cliffs Study Apps

Which would you consider the most influential woman of the last 100 years?

Anne Frank
Mother Teresa
Oprah Winfrey
Princess Diana
Rosa Parks

View Results

Are the words gamut and gauntlet interchangeable?

They are not. Gamut means the entire range or extent. Don't confuse this word with gauntlet.

Example: His reactions ran the gamut from rage to apathy.

Gauntlet has two meanings. First, it refers to a glove that in the days of chivalry was thrown to the ground to announce a challenge. Therefore, throwing down the gauntlet has become a figure of speech meaning to challenge:

Example: A fifty-year-old woman entered the marathon, thus throwing down the gauntlet before the younger runners.

Second, gauntlet (or gantlet) was also once a form of punishment in which a person ran between two rows of men who struck him. It has also become a figure of speech:

Example: In trying to promote her idea, she was forced to run the gauntlet (or gantlet) between those who thought it was too ambitious and those who thought it wasn't ambitious enough.

Cite this article