GANT'LET GANT'LOPE, noun A military punishment inflicted on criminals for some heinous offense. It is executed in this manner; soldiers are arranged in two rows, face to face, each armed with a switch or instrument of punishment; between these rows, the offender, stripped to his waist, is compelled to pass a certain number of times, and each man gives him a stroke. A similar punishment is used on board of ships. Hence this word is chiefly used in the phrase, to run the gantlet or gantlope.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI