meet one's match
Encounter someone equal in ability to oneself, as in The chess champion was about to meet his match in a computer. This expression originated about 1300 as find one's match, but the alliterative meet was being used by the mid-1500s and has survived.
QUIZZES
CAN YOU ACE THIS QUIZ ABOUT “COMPLIMENT” VS. “COMPLEMENT”?
Take this quiz to see if you really know the difference between “compliment” and “complement"!
Question 1 of 11
“Compliment” and “complement” had a shared meaning a long time ago, but today they are no longer interchangeable.
Words nearby meet one's match
meerkat, meerschaum, meerut, meet, meet and greet, meet one's match, meet one's waterloo, meet the requirements, meet up with, meet with, meeting
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.