From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmeasure somebody/something against somebody/something phrasal verbJUDGEto judge someone or something by comparing them with another person or thing Bridget did not think she had to measure herself against some ideal standard. Measured against our budget last year, $2.7 million seems small. → measure→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
measure against • At eleven and a half inches tall, Barbie became the ideal that little girls everywhere could measure themselves against.• This practice continuously compares budgeted amounts with actuals and as such is providing some measure of performance against a predetermined standard.• Each participating State will provide and maintain measures to guard against accidental or unauthorized use of military means. 25.• If all musicians and composers measured themselves against Mozart, they would be very depressed people.• This provided a lifeline for those who could receive it, and an immaculate standard of reporting to measure reality against propaganda.• I lie on the floor, feet to the house, and measure myself against that wonderful height.• The contribution of the turnpikes must be measured not against the prescriptions of later ages but against the possibilities of their own.• Half-empty glasses: do you measure what is against what might have been, or against what was? 