See hold a candle on Wiktionary
Download JSON data for hold a candle meaning in All languages combined (5.3kB)
{
"etymology_text": "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.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "holds a candle",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "holding a candle",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "held a candle",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "held a candle",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "hold<,,held> a candle"
},
"expansion": "hold a candle (third-person singular simple present holds a candle, present participle holding a candle, simple past and past participle held a candle)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English negative polarity items",
"parents": [
"Negative polarity items",
"Terms by semantic function"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "The old computer just doesn't hold a candle to the latest models.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1908, Jerome K. Jerome, The Philosopher's Joke",
"text": "\"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.\"\n\"You were, my dear,\" agreed her husband: \"As a girl few could hold a candle to you.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1921, Gene Stratton-Porter, Her Father's Daughter",
"text": "“[…]Speaking of pretty girls, my sister, Eileen, is a pretty girl. She is a downright beautiful girl.”\n“Yes,” said Donald, “she is, but she can’t hold a candle to you. How did she look when she was your age?”",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "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",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To compare; to be even remotely of the same quality, skill, etc. as another."
],
"id": "en-hold_a_candle-en-verb-F0TKFifl",
"links": [
[
"compare",
"compare"
],
[
"remote",
"remote"
],
[
"quality",
"quality"
],
[
"skill",
"skill"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(chiefly in the negative) To compare; to be even remotely of the same quality, skill, etc. as another."
],
"raw_tags": [
"in the negative"
],
"related": [
{
"word": "hold a candle for"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "wàngqíxiàngbèi",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "望其项背"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "sahat po kotníky"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "pärjätä"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "painia samassa sarjassa"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "faire le poids"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "arriver à la cheville"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "jemandem nicht das Wasser reichen können"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"tags": [
"negative"
],
"word": "nem lehet egy napon említeni"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"note": "of people",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"tags": [
"negative"
],
"word": "a kisujjával sem ér fel"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"note": "negative polarity",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "umywać się do"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"note": "negative polarity",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "dorastać do pięt"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "chegar aos pés"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"note": "not (even) suitable for soles",
"roman": "v podmjótki ne godítʹsja",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "в подмётки не годи́ться"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "llegar a la suela del zapato"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "llegar a los talones"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"roman": "tîiap-dtìt",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "เทียบติด"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"roman": "tîiap-dâai",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "เทียบได้"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-hold a candle.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/50/En-au-hold_a_candle.ogg/En-au-hold_a_candle.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/En-au-hold_a_candle.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "hold a candle"
}
{
"etymology_text": "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.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "holds a candle",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "holding a candle",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "held a candle",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "held a candle",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "hold<,,held> a candle"
},
"expansion": "hold a candle (third-person singular simple present holds a candle, present participle holding a candle, simple past and past participle held a candle)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "hold a candle for"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English negative polarity items",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"English verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "The old computer just doesn't hold a candle to the latest models.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1908, Jerome K. Jerome, The Philosopher's Joke",
"text": "\"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.\"\n\"You were, my dear,\" agreed her husband: \"As a girl few could hold a candle to you.\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1921, Gene Stratton-Porter, Her Father's Daughter",
"text": "“[…]Speaking of pretty girls, my sister, Eileen, is a pretty girl. She is a downright beautiful girl.”\n“Yes,” said Donald, “she is, but she can’t hold a candle to you. How did she look when she was your age?”",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "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",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To compare; to be even remotely of the same quality, skill, etc. as another."
],
"links": [
[
"compare",
"compare"
],
[
"remote",
"remote"
],
[
"quality",
"quality"
],
[
"skill",
"skill"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(chiefly in the negative) To compare; to be even remotely of the same quality, skill, etc. as another."
],
"raw_tags": [
"in the negative"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-hold a candle.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/50/En-au-hold_a_candle.ogg/En-au-hold_a_candle.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/En-au-hold_a_candle.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "wàngqíxiàngbèi",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "望其项背"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "sahat po kotníky"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "pärjätä"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "painia samassa sarjassa"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "faire le poids"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "arriver à la cheville"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "jemandem nicht das Wasser reichen können"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"tags": [
"negative"
],
"word": "nem lehet egy napon említeni"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"note": "of people",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"tags": [
"negative"
],
"word": "a kisujjával sem ér fel"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"note": "negative polarity",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "umywać się do"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"note": "negative polarity",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "dorastać do pięt"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "chegar aos pés"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"note": "not (even) suitable for soles",
"roman": "v podmjótki ne godítʹsja",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "в подмётки не годи́ться"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "llegar a la suela del zapato"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "llegar a los talones"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"roman": "tîiap-dtìt",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "เทียบติด"
},
{
"code": "th",
"lang": "Thai",
"roman": "tîiap-dâai",
"sense": "be even remotely of the same quality",
"word": "เทียบได้"
}
],
"word": "hold a candle"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.