Word.ws English Dictionary

hold a candle for

hold a candle for verb: to feel romantic attraction for.

Verb

hold a candle for (third-person singular simple present holds a candle for, present participle holding a candle for, simple past and past participle held a candle for)

  1. To feel romantic attraction for.
    • Despite Dawson now having the starring role, she still held a candle for her celebrity crush.2014, Rachael Johns, Tease Me, Cowboy
    • Now, I hold no candle for the train operators, and I think that in the main they have been far too craven about any government proposals. But in this instance, they have been badly traduced, led up the hill, and then chucked back down it.2023 November 15, Christian Wolmar, “Ministers should carry the can for ticket office fiasco”, in RAIL, number 996, page 47

Synonyms of hold a candle for

Forms of hold a candle for

third-person singular presentholds a candle for
present participleholding a candle for
past participleheld a candle for
pastheld a candle for

Questions about hold a candle for

What does hold a candle for mean?
Hold a candle for means to feel romantic attraction for.
What part of speech is hold a candle for?
Hold a candle for is a verb.
What is the past tense of hold a candle for?
The past tense of hold a candle for is held a candle for.

Words near hold a candle for in the dictionary

  1. Holcroft
  2. Holcrofts
  3. hold
  4. Hold 'em
  5. hold a candle
  6. hold a candle for
  7. hold a grudge
  8. hold a gun to someone's head
  9. hold a light
  10. hold a mirror to
  11. hold a mirror up to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hold a candle for (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “hold a candle for.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hold_a_candle_for. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.