be no match for

English

Verb

be no match for (third-person singular simple present is no match for, present participle being no match for, simple past was no match for, past participle been no match for)

1. (idiomatic) To be outmatched by; to be much weaker, less capable, or less desirable than.
   • 1887, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Sam Slick, the Clockmaker, page 10:

     King William number four, I guess, would be no match for him as an orator – he'd talk him out of sight in half an hour.

   • 1870, Representative and leading men of the Pacific, page 329:

     I am. no match for a physician in any matters connected with his pursuits, nor would the physician be a match for me in a legal argument .

   • 1882 September 16, David Christie, “Valentine Strange”, in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, volume 19, number 977, page 590:

     He was a dull dog, and he knew it; but though he was no match for Garling intellectually , he knew himself a match and more than a match for him physically .

   • 2014, Gail Whitiker, No Occupation For A Lady:

     The two soon had their heads close together in conversation, and while it was clear the gentleman was no match for her in appearance or style, there was no denying the strength of the connection between them .