Word.ws English Dictionary

holds a candle

holds a candle is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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 holds a candle

What is holds a candle the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Holds a candle is the third-person singular simple present indicative of hold a candle.

Words near holds a candle in the dictionary

  1. Holdren
  2. Holdrens
  3. Holdridge
  4. Holdridges
  5. holds
  6. holds a candle
  7. holds a candle for
  8. holds a grudge
  9. holds a gun to someone's head
  10. holds a light
  11. holds a mirror to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: holds 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.

Last updated:

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