An agreement generally between two males or occasionaly two parties (I.E countries) in which an informal agreement is made as
apposed to something that is signed and
ratified and usually has no legal basis, it is simply a man giving his word that he will do something which is based on the traditional value of honour amongst gentlemen. That should one
man break his end of the agreement his Honour and
trustworthiness will be called into repute and his status as a gentleman is finished. More modern language is likely used such as "losing your man card" for breaches of the agreement but the principle stays the same.
Has been used many times in the past particularly during war amongst generals (who were considered men of honour) to broker such things as temporary ceasefires to evacuate wounded men, or the famous Christmas
truce in WW1.
A more modern and simpler example would be if two guys were watching a sports game and they decided to bet each other on the outcome. The agreement is informal but there is a
gentlemans agreement to follow through and pay up should one lose. Failure to pay on losing would be a breach of the gentlemans agreement and the loser runs the risk of being known as a bad payer and people would be less likely to bet with him in the future thus tarnishing his reputation and his word
Example:
The Christmas
truce of 1914 was a prime example of a
gentlemans agreement. That each man would lay his weapons down for the sake of the unofficial
ceasefire, with each man effectively upholding a gentlemans agreement that they would not attack