Echar el guante
backTo throw the glove.
to get hold of someone; **to get hold of someone**; **to catch someone**; **to lay one's hands on someone**; **to track someone down**; **to nab someone**; **to get one's hands on something**
Echar el guante means to catch someone, to get hold of someone, or to manage to find and apprehend someone.
Por fin le echó el guante al ladrón.
He finally caught the thief.
Llevo días intentando echarle el guante al director.
I've been trying to get hold of the director for days.
Cuando le eche el guante, voy a pedirle explicaciones.
When I get hold of him, I'm going to demand an explanation.
La policía consiguió echarle el guante al sospechoso.
The police finally managed to nab the suspect.
Por fin he conseguido echarle el guante a ese libro.
I've finally managed to get my hands on that book.
It can also mean to get hold of something, especially when it has been difficult to obtain.
The expression is commonly used when someone has been elusive, difficult to reach or difficult to catch.
A common construction is:
Echarle el guante a alguien.
→ To catch / get hold of someone.
- finally catches someone who was trying to escape
- manages to find someone who has been difficult to locate
- gets hold of someone to talk to them
- obtains something that was difficult to get
- apprehends a suspect or criminal
The expression is traditionally associated with the glove as an object that can be thrown or used to seize something.
The glove also has a long association with challenge and confrontation in European cultural tradition. Throwing down a glove could symbolically constitute a challenge, particularly in the context of a duel.
From this imagery, echar el guante developed the idea of seizing, catching or getting hold of someone.
The expression can refer to people or things.
Catching a person
La policía le echó el guante al sospechoso.
→ The police caught / nabbed the suspect.
Contacting someone
A ver si consigo echarle el guante al jefe.
→ Let's see if I can get hold of the boss.
Obtaining something
Por fin le eché el guante al libro que buscaba.
→ I finally got my hands on the book I was looking for.
The last use is especially common when the object is rare, difficult to obtain or eagerly sought.
The expression has a particularly interesting relationship with echarle el ojo a algo:
- Echarle el ojo a algo → take a liking to something / set one's sights on something.
- Echarle el guante a algo → actually manage to get hold of it.
For example:
Le eché el ojo a ese libro y finalmente le eché el guante.
→ I had my eye on that book and eventually got my hands on it.
The two expressions therefore form a natural progression from wanting or targeting something to actually obtaining it.
Do not translate:
Le echó el guante.
as:
He threw the glove at him.
Natural translations include:
He caught him.
He got hold of him.
He laid his hands on him.
He nabbed him.
The best choice depends on the context.
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