hold a candle

present singular third person holds a candle · participle present holding a candle · participle past held a candle · past held a candle

1. To compare; to be even remotely of the same quality, skill, etc. as another.First known use mid 16th c.

   The old computer just doesn't hold a candle to the latest models.

   5 more examples

   But not a soul in Flychett could hold a candle to Yeobright.

   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

   Old or young, I felt sure she could never at any time have holden a candle to that admirable lady, Alice Claiborne, now in some despite for her sake.

   1901, William Henry Babcock, The Tower of Wye: A Romance, page 156

   "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."

   1908, Jerome K. Jerome, The Philosopher's Joke

   “[…]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?”

   1921, Gene Stratton-Porter, Her Father's Daughter

   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.

   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