- a long, usually slender piece of tallow or wax with an embedded wick that is burned to give light.
- something resembling a candle in appearance or use.
- Optics.
- (formerly) candela.
- a unit of luminous intensity, defined as a fraction of the luminous intensity of a group of 45 carbon-filament lamps: used from 1909 to 1948 as the international standard.
- a unit of luminous intensity, equal to the luminous intensity of a wax candle of standard specifications: used prior to 1909 as the international standard. Abbreviation: c., c
- to examine (eggs) for freshness, fertility, etc., by holding them up to a bright light.
- to hold (a bottle of wine) in front of a lighted candle while decanting so as to detect sediment and prevent its being poured off with the wine.
- burn1 (def. 56).
- to compare favorably with (usually used in the negative): She's smart, but she can't hold a candle to her sister.
- worth the trouble or effort involved (usually used in the negative): Trying to win them over to your viewpoint is not worth the candle.
- a cylindrical piece of wax, tallow, or other fatty substance surrounding a wick, which is burned to produce light
- physics
- See international candle
- another name for candela
- to exhaust oneself, esp by being up late and getting up early to work
- to be inferior or contemptible in comparison with
- not worth the price or trouble entailed (esp in the phrase the game's not worth the candle)
- to examine (eggs) for freshness or the likelihood of being hatched by viewing them against a bright light
