COMMON If you run the gauntlet of a difficult situation, especially one in which many people insult, question or attack you, you experience it. Note: Gauntlets are long thick gloves which protect your hands, wrists, and forearms. He had to run the gauntlet of photographers and journalists outside the High Court. They ran the gauntlet of angry demonstrators. She left the court but not before she had run the gauntlet of threats and abuse. Note: `Gatlopp' is a Swedish word meaning `lane run'. The `gatlopp' was a Swedish military punishment that came into common use in England during the Thirty Years' War (1618-48). The victim had to run between two rows of soldiers who would whip or beat them. In England, the unfamiliar Swedish word `gatlopp' was replaced by the more familiar English word `gauntlet'.