candle
Americannoun
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candles
plural
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a long, usually slender piece of tallow or wax with an embedded wick that is burned to give light.
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something resembling a candle in appearance or use.
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Optics.
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(formerly) candela.
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Also called international candle. 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.
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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. c., c
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verb (used with object)
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candles,
present (3rd person singular)
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candled,
past participle, past
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candling
present participle
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to examine (eggs) for freshness, fertility, etc., by holding them up to a bright light.
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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.
idioms
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hold a candle to, to compare favorably with (usually used in the negative).
She's smart, but she can't hold a candle to her sister.
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burn the / one's candle at both ends. burn.
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worth the candle, worth the trouble or effort involved (usually used in the negative).
Trying to win them over to your viewpoint is not worth the candle.
noun
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a cylindrical piece of wax, tallow, or other fatty substance surrounding a wick, which is burned to produce light
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physics
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another name for candela
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to exhaust oneself, esp by being up late and getting up early to work
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informal to be inferior or contemptible in comparison with
your dog doesn't hold a candle to mine
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informal not worth the price or trouble entailed (esp in the phrase the game's not worth the candle )
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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candlesimple
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candlessimple
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have candledperfect
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has candledperfect
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am candlingprogressive
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are candlingprogressive
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is candlingprogressive
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have been candlingperfect progressive
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has been candlingperfect progressive
Past
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candledsimple
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had candledperfect
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was candlingprogressive
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were candlingprogressive
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had been candlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of candle
First recorded before 900; Middle English candel, candle, condel, Old English candel, condel, from Latin candēla, equivalent to cand(ēre) “to shine, gleam white” + -ēla noun suffix; see candid
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A lit candle flickered among the flowers, where a teddy bear was also perched.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Argentina “doesn’t hold a candle to the greatest rivalry in sports—Barcelona vs. Real Madrid.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
And it is funny to have a cherry candle on top of your birthday cake.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
"Surf wax, which we put on the boards, is not available at all in Gaza, so we resort to candle wax so we can keep this sport going," he added.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
She turned and held the candle forward so that she might see into the dark recesses of the cave.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
So I came home eager to remind everyone that we have something special in California, and that we should all be lighting candles on the cake celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Coastal Act.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
Fans gathered at the park in recent days to pay tribute to Parton, dropping off flowers, candles and balloons.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
As ever sells jams, teas, candles and other products "crafted to elevate your everyday and inspire moments of joy", and there is no indication that it will end when she moves across the Atlantic.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
Flowers and candles were left outside the Brinell school in Fagersta where Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson went on Saturday morning to honour the dead student and three wounded victims.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
When I blew out my candles, I made an extra wish: to meet TJ Retro.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Unlike with most poultry, the eggs cannot be candled to check on the embryo growing inside for the 52 days between laying and hatching.
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2022
Early on, she candled eggs for a poultry farm while he played “frisbee on the green.”
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 20, 2018
Sample eggs are then candled to determine whether the agent is properly infecting the embryos.
From Time Magazine Archive
Many so-so lines are salvaged by the neat professional finesse of Grant, Day and Meadows, with Gig Young contributing an amusing portrayal of a financial adviser who is having his head candled.
From Time Magazine Archive
Without waiting for a reply, Mr. McGuffey dropped back into his department and Captain Scraggs, his soul filled with rage and dire forebodings, repaired to the galley, and "candled" four dozen eggs.
From Captain Scraggs or, The Green-Pea Pirates by Gordon Grant
Unclear, though certificates on the walls congratulate her on her mastery of ear candling and reiki.
From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2015
His wife, when not mothering their five boys and three girls, spent grueling days standing at a local produce house as she examined poultry eggs under a light - what they call candling.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 2, 2014
Sam Cruz, a 12-year IRS employee who works in candling, said he finds something left behind maybe two or three times for every thousand envelopes.
From Washington Post
Aside from an earful of candle wax, candling could lead to infection, burns to the ear canal or eardrum--or burning hair.
From Time Magazine Archive
To save time a piece of apparatus may be used which is simple in construction and which simplifies the process of candling considerably.
From Ducks and Geese by Harry M. Lamon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
