measure up against

measure (someone or sth) (up) against (someone or sth else)

1. To compare the qualities of a particular person or thing with those of someone or something else. Because I'm pursuing the same career as my brother, I feel like people are always measuring me against him. I just feel that modern architecture is missing some of the grandeur of pre-21st-century buildings when you measure them up against one another.
2. To place someone or something against a larger person or thing so as to observe, measure, or compare the size of one or both. We've been measuring our kids against the same wall for nearly 15 years now—there's a lot of memories on that thing! When you measure the new desk up against the older one, you can see that there is a noticeable size discrepancy.
See also: measure, sth
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

measure someone up against someone or something

to place someone up against someone or something else for the purpose of comparing size or other qualities. Please measure Fred up against Tom and see who has the best qualifications. Can you measure Brian up against the mark on the wall to see how tall he is growing?
See also: measure, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • measure (someone or sth) (up) against (someone or sth else)
  • measure against
  • measured
  • something of a
  • sing (someone's or something's) praises
  • sing or praises
  • sing somebody's/something's praises
  • sing someone's/something's praises
  • sing the praises of
  • sing the praises of (someone or something)
References in periodicals archive
There is great built in multiplayer action, relentless waves of enemies, power ups and the opportunity to post your scores on leaderboards to measure up against the rest of the world.
It allows investors to gauge the extent to which profitable new business is written, how actual gains/losses on in-force business measure up against pricing assumptions, and how much of the company's value is based on in-force vs.