Gantlet or gauntlet?
gantlet is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of gauntlet”; gauntlet is a noun meaning “Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) gauntlet is about 66 times as common as gantlet.
What is the difference between gantlet and gauntlet?
| gantlet | gauntlet | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | USAlternative spelling of gauntlet | Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat A long glove covering the wrist A simultaneous attack from two or more sides |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | gantlets | gauntlets |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈɡɔːnt.lət/ |
| In writing | about once in every 48 million words | 1.4 times per million words |
Sources: gantlet and gauntlet in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of gantlet and gauntlet
gantlet
- 1
USAlternative spelling of gauntlet
- 2
USAlternative spelling of gauntlet
gauntlet
- 1
Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat
- 2
A simultaneous attack from two or more sides
- 3
A long glove covering the wrist
- 4
Any challenging, difficult, or painful ordeal, often one performed for atonement or punishment
- 5
A rope on which hammocks or clothes are hung for drying
- 6
A fight against swarms of relatively minor enemies in the form of multiple waves, often but not always preceding a boss
- 7
An eruption of pellagra on the hands
- 8
Overlapping parallel rail tracks; either to allowing passage through a narrow opening in each direction without switching, or to allow vehicles of a larger gauge to pass through a station without…
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, gantlet or gauntlet?
gantlet appears about once in every 48 million words; gauntlet 1.4 times per million words.
gantlet about once in every 48 million wordsgauntlet 1.4 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search gantlet vs gauntlet?
“gantlet vs gauntlet” is searched about 720 times a month on Google and 30 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“gauntlet vs gantlet”, “gantlet or gauntlet”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.