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hold a candle. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
hold a candle, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
hold a candle in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
hold a candle you have here. The definition of the word
hold a candle will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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English
Etymology
From the custom of apprentices to a master holding a candle so that the master could see more clearly. The negative version implies that a person who was not fit even for such a simple task was worthless.[1]
Pronunciation
Verb
hold a candle (third-person singular simple present holds a candle, present participle holding a candle, simple past and past participle held a candle)
- (chiefly in the negative) To compare; to be even remotely of the same quality, skill, etc. as another.
The old computer just doesn't hold a candle to the latest models.
1878 January–December, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native , volume I, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., , published 1878, →OCLC, book I (The Three Women), page 105:But not a soul in Flychett could hold a candle to Yeobright.
1908, Jerome K. Jerome, The Philosopher's Joke:"I know, dear, it is I," his thin wife answered with a meek smile. "I was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, when you married me."
"You were, my dear," agreed her husband: "As a girl few could hold a candle to you."
1921, Gene Stratton-Porter, Her Father's Daughter:“ […] Speaking of pretty girls, my sister, Eileen, is a pretty girl. She is a downright beautiful girl.”
“Yes,” said Donald, “she is, but she can’t hold a candle to you. How did she look when she was your age?”
2023 December 14, Pearse Anderson, “‘Lonely, gray and being actively colonized by corporations’: we tried the McDonald’s spinoff, CosMc’s”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:Thirty miles north of CosMc’s, the McDonald’s No 1 Store Museum once stood, a replica of the company’s stunning post-war sci fi Googie architecture that CosMc’s’ retro-details barely hold a candle to.
Translations
be even remotely of the same quality
References
- ^ Elizabeth Knowles, editor (2005), “cannot hold a candle”, in Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 119, column 1.
Further reading
- “not hold a candle to” (US) / “not hold a candle to” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
- “hold a candle to, not”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Christine Ammer, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, →ISBN.