have nothing on

Verb

have nothing on (third-person singular simple present has nothing on, present participle having nothing on, simple past and past participle had nothing on)

1. (US, transitive) To be short of accusatory evidence against (a person).
   • Relax. The cops have nothing on us. All they can prove is that we were in the same town on the same day.
   • “Abe, I 've come down to gather you in,” announced the calmly mendacious detective. He continued to sip his bruilleau with fraternal unconcern.
     “You got nothing on me, Jim,” protested the other, losing his taste for the delicacies arrayed about him.
     “Well, we got 'o go down to Headquarters and talk...1913, Arthur Stringer, “Chapter 5a”, in The Shadow
2. (transitive) To lack an advantage over, to not be in a better position than, to be nonsuperior to.
   • His Mustang has nothing on her Corvette. [ = both cars are fast, and his cannot beat hers, although perhaps her car is not much faster (ambiguous)]
   • “Gad, what a green!” said Mr. Mott, pop-eyed. “Like a billiard-table. We’ve got an English greenskeeper; he’s a wonder. Sleepy Hollow and Pine Valley have nothing on us.”1917, Holworthy Hall, “If you don't Mind my Telling you”, in Century, pages 377–393
   1. (sometimes, transitive, via understatement) To be considerably inferior to.
      • Even the quickest street-legal cars in town have nothing on a Top Fuel dragster. [ = understated sense: a Top Fuel dragster is considerably quicker]
      • I would take an hour in consuming that one cracker. I took the smallest nibbles, never losing a crumb, and chewed the nibble till it became the thinnest and most delectable of pastes. I never voluntarily swallowed this paste. I just tasted it, and went on tasting it, turning it over with my tongue...1913, Jack London, “Chapter V”, in John Barleycorn