hold a candle to, cannot/not fit to
can't hold a candle to someone
Fig. not [to be] equal to someone; unable to measure up to someone. (Also with cannot.) Mary can't hold a candle to Ann when it comes to athletics. As for singing, John can't hold a candle to Jane.
See also: candle, hold
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
cannot hold a candle to
be nowhere near as good as. informalIn the 16th century, an assistant would literally hold a candle to his superior by standing beside him with a candle to provide enough light for him to work by. The modern version suggests that the subordinate is so far inferior that he is unfit to perform even this humble task.
See also: candle, cannot, hold
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
hold a candle to, cannot/not fit to
To be vastly inferior to someone. Holding a candle for someone else was already considered a menial task in the sixteenth century. “Who that worst maie, shall holde the candell” appeared in John Heywood’s 1546 collection of proverbs, and “I be not worthy to hold a candle to Aristotle,” wrote Sir Edward Dering (1640). A rhyming example appears in John Byrom’s poetic account, On the Feud between Handel and Bononcini (1773): “Others aver that he to Handel is scarcely fit to hold the candle.”
See also: candle, cannot, fit, hold, not
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- fence (someone or something) off from (something)
- desert (someone or something) to (someone or something)
- desert to
- can't do anything with
- can't do anything with (someone or something)
- get (someone or something) out of (one's) mind
- get out of mind
- somebody
- dorky
- argue