A glove. See Gauntlet.

to offer or accept a challenge; "threw down the gauntlet"; "took up the gauntlet"

a glove of armored leather; protects the hand

A military punishment formerly in use, wherein the offender was made to run between two files of men facing one another, who struck him as he passed.

the convergence of two parallel railroad tracks in a narrow place; the inner rails cross and run parallel and then diverge so a train remains on its own tracks at all times

a form of punishment in which a person is forced to run between two lines of men facing each other and armed with clubs or whips to beat the victim

a flogging ordeal, literally or figuratively