pick/take up the gauntlet

phrase

: to show that one is willing and ready to fight, argue, or compete with someone or to do something that is difficult but necessary : to accept or respond to a challenge

The time has come for Congress to pick up the gauntlet and do something about this problem.

Examples of pick/take up the gauntlet in a Sentence

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Some 35 years after their fathers Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn faced off for the first time, the British duo’s sons will once again take up the gauntlet at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. — Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Nov. 2025

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“Pick/take up the gauntlet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pick%2Ftake%20up%20the%20gauntlet. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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