apprentice (one) to (someone)

To pair one with an expert in a particular field or trade so that one can learn about it. I have apprenticed my son to the local blacksmith. My brother was not a great student, so my parents decided to apprentice him to a master builder. I didn't have a keen interest in making shoes, but my family apprenticed me to the town cobbler nonetheless.

sorcerer's apprentice

Someone who is unable to contain or control a situation, event, or process that they instigated. A reference to a ballad written by Goethe in 1797 called "Der Zauberlehrling," about an apprentice magician who, through arrogance in his own abilities, brings a broom to life to do his chores for him, only to realize he has no way of controlling it. The banking authority, like a sorcerer's apprentice, created a system where greater bad debts were being inflated far beyond their market value, thus leading to a severe crash once the bubble inevitably burst.

apprentice someone to someone

to assign someone to work at a certain trade and learn it from someone experienced. She apprenticed her son to a local diesel mechanic. I apprenticed myself to a printer and learned what it means to get really dirty.

sorcerer's apprentice

a person who having instigated a process is unable to control it.

This is a translation of the French L'Apprenti sorcier, the title of an 1897 symphonic poem by Paul Dukas based on Der Zauberlehrling, a 1797 ballad by Goethe . In this ballad the apprentice's use of magic spells sets in motion a series of events which he cannot control.