From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcan’t hold a candle to somebody/somethingcan’t hold a candle to somebody/somethinginformalGOOD AT if something or someone cannot hold a candle to something or someone else, they are not as good as the other thing or person No other singer can hold a candle to her. → candle
Examples from the Corpus
can’t hold a candle to somebody/something• Basketball stars today can't hold a candle to Michael Jordan. 