E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Hold.
(Anglo-Saxon, heald-an, to hold.)
1
He is not fit to hold the candle to him. He is very inferior. The allusion is to link-boys who held candles in theatres and other places of night amusement.
2
“Others say that Mr. Handel
To Bonocini can’t hold a candle.”
Swift.
To cry hold. Stop. The allusion is to the old military tournaments; when the umpires wished to stop the contest they cried out “Hold!”
3
“Lay on Macduff,
And damn’d be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!’”
