Word.ws English Dictionary

holding a candle

holding a candle is the present participle and gerund of hold a candle.

Meaning of hold a candle

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)

  1. 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.

Questions about holding a candle

What is holding a candle the present participle and gerund of?
Holding a candle is the present participle and gerund of hold a candle.

Words near holding a candle in the dictionary

  1. Holdfast Bay
  2. holdfastness
  3. holdfasts
  4. holdin'
  5. holding
  6. holding a candle
  7. holding a candle for
  8. holding a grudge
  9. holding a gun to someone's head
  10. holding a light
  11. holding a mirror to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: holding a candle (page history and authors); hold a candle (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: “holding a candle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/holding_a_candle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.