go for the gloves

== English == === Etymology === Perhaps from the old custom of ladies betting their gloves, expecting to be paid if they won but not to pay if they lost. === Verb === go for the gloves (third-person singular simple present goes for the gloves, present participle going for the gloves, simple past went for the gloves, past participle gone for the gloves) (gambling) To bet against a racehorse on the chance of its losing, without having the wherewithal to pay if it wins. ==== References ==== John Camden Hotten (1873), The Slang Dictionary