compare
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compare apples and oranges
To try to highlight the similarities between two different things—which typically cannot be done. You can't compare your job as a nurse to mine as an engineer—that's comparing apples and oranges!
compare notes
To discuss one's feelings on or experience of someone or something with another person. This afternoon, we'll have to compare notes on the applicants we've interviewed so far.
compare notes on (someone or something)
To discuss one's feelings on or experience of someone or something with another person. This afternoon, we'll have to compare notes on the applicants we've interviewed so far.
compare (someone or something) to (someone or something)
To highlight the similarities between two people or things. Well, if Shakespeare can compare someone to a summer's day, then so can I! Unfortunately, I can only compare her performance to a train wreck.
See also: compare
compare (someone or something) with (someone or something)
To highlight the similarities between two people or things. Well, if Shakespeare can compare someone with a summer's day, then so can I! Unfortunately, I can only compare her performance with a train wreck.
See also: compare
be as nothing (compared) to (someone or something)
To be unimportant or trivial compared to someone or something else. These new pieces are as nothing compared to his groundbreaking early works.
See also: nothing
beyond compare
Unequalled or peerless. I'm not surprised that Molly won that scholarship—her intelligence is beyond compare.
without compare
Unequalled or peerless. I'm not surprised that Molly won that scholarship—her intelligence is without compare.
beyond comparison
Unequalled or peerless. I'm not surprised that Molly won a full scholarship to that prestigious university—her intelligence is beyond comparison.
See also: beyond, comparison
compare notes on someone or something
to share observations on someone or something. We took a little time to compare notes on our ancestors and have discovered that we are cousins.
compare someone or something to someone or something
to liken people or things to other people or things; to say that some people or things have the same qualities as other people or things. (See the comment at compare someone or something with someone or something.) l can only compare him to a cuddly teddy bear. He compared himself to one of the knights of the round table.
See also: compare
compare someone or something with someone or something
to consider the sameness or difference of sets of things or people. (This phrase is very close in meaning to compare someone or something to someone or something, but for some connotes stronger contrast.) Let's compare the virtues of savings accounts with investing in bonds. When I compare Roger with Tom, I find very few similarities. Please compare Tom with Bill on their unemployment records.
See also: compare
beyond comparison
Also, without comparison or beyond compare . Too superior to be compared, unrivaled, as in This view of the mountains is beyond comparison, or That bakery is without comparison. The first term, more common today than the much older variants, was first recorded in 1871. Without comparison goes back to 1340, and without compare to 1621.
See also: beyond, comparison
compare notes
Exchange information, observations, or opinions about something, as in Michael and Jane always compare notes after a department meeting. This term originally referred to written notes. [c. 1700]
compare notes
exchange ideas, opinions, or information about a particular subject.beyond/without comˈpare
(literary) too good, beautiful, etc. to be compared with anyone or anything else: The loveliness of the scene was beyond compare.compare ˈnotes (with somebody)
exchange ideas or opinions with somebody, especially about shared experiences: We met after the exam to compare notes on how well we had done.compare notes
To exchange ideas, views, or opinions.
apples and oranges, like comparing
Comparing two unlike objects or issues. This term, dating from the second half of the 1900s, has largely replaced the difference between chalk and cheese, at least in America. The latter expression of disparateness is much older, dating from the 1500s. Why apples and oranges, since they’re both fruits, and not some other object is unclear. Nevertheless, it has caught on and is on the way to being a cliché.
compare notes, to
To exchange opinions, impressions, or information. The original meaning referred to written notes, but the phrase soon included verbal exchanges as well. It was known by at least 1700. In 1712 Richard Steele wrote (in the Spectator), “They meet and compare notes upon your carriage.”
See also: compare