lay a glove on

Definitions

1. To hit with a boxing glove.
2. To physically touch, especially in a way that causes hurt.
3. To harm (someone's) reputation, to make an accusation stick.
   broadly
4. To match, to provide with meaningful competition or be able to handle.

Examples

““You were so good he couldn't lay⟳ a glove on you. You were terrific. He tired to hit you with his knockout punch but you skillfully avoided it - do you remember⟳ how his glove whistled harmlessly past your head?”

“In round three, Toxa moved in and out jabbing, scoring often with the bigger man unable to lay⟳ a glove on him.”

“Umbertino couldn't lay⟳ a glove on him. Big as he was, all it would have⟳ taken was a punch, a single roundhouse and he would have⟳ decked him. But the other guy was a grasshopper.”

“The blinking headlights in his rearview mirror indicated the driver's anger at almost being sideswiped. “Oh, get⟳ a grip on yourself,” Dave groused as he continued accelerating. “I didn't even lay⟳ a glove on ya,” he giggled.”

““No, you needn't worry⟳, Peres,” he'd gone on. “I wouldn't lay⟳ a glove on you. I've been meaning to tell⟳ you; you're really not my type⟳ at all. I just didn't want⟳...Well, you know⟳—your self-esteem and all that. You can understand⟳, can't you?””

“Moon was the soul of serene self-control. “He won't lay⟳ a glove on her, McTeague.” “How can you be so sure?” “Code of the West. No self-respecting frontier lawman will hit a woman.”

“I told him not to lay⟳ a glove on you, but do like⟳ Beyoncé said, and lay⟳ a ring⟳ on you instead.”

“It was more than an anticlimax: it was a triumph for the President. “They didn't lay⟳ a glove on him,” Robert Bennett, his lawyer, told me. “On a scale of one to ten, it was a fifteen.””

““The courts couldn't lay⟳ a glove on you, if that's what you did," said Silber.”

“Even Saturday Night Live⟳, the scourge of President Ford, could hardly lay⟳ a glove on the “Teflon president.””

“But if you say⟳ absolutely nothing they can't just keep⟳ you inside and do nothing with you. No feedback from you and they have⟳ nothing to lay⟳ a glove on you with and have⟳ to let⟳ you go sometime.”

“And I was dubious because I thought the problem was so huge that no small amount of money that we would put⟳ in this bill would lay⟳ a glove on the problem.”

“His team did not think⟳ that their candidate was so likeable that Romney couldn't lay⟳ a glove on him. Quite the opposite.”

“Warnock described City as the best team in Europe in the build-up to this match⟳ and joked that his players had been preparing for the game - and City's inevitable dominance - by training without a ball. It proved to be a prescient quip, as the home side had to toil for long periods, struggling to lay⟳ a glove on their stylish opponents.”

CEFR level