meet your match
meet (one's) match
To encounter one's equal or superior in ability, skill, etc., especially in a competitive setting. Stevenson used to be the dominant player on the tour, but it looks like she has finally met her match in the young newcomer. A lot of kids who are used to being the smartest student in school are a little shell-shocked when they meet their match in college.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
meet your match
COMMON If you meet your match, you find that you are competing or fighting with someone who is as good as you or is better than you. The United manager, Alex Ferguson, admitted that his team had met their match in Chelsea. The boxer's bruised and bloodied face showed he had met his match in Lewis.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
meet your match
encounter your equal in strength or ability.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
find/meet your ˈmatch (in somebody)
meet somebody who is as good at doing something as you are, and perhaps better: He thought he could beat anyone, but he’s finally found his match. ♢ As a saleswoman, she’s met her match in Lorna.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
meet one's match, to
To encounter a person who is one’s equal in ability. This term began life as to find one’s match, a locution that dates back to the fourteenth century or earlier. “He fond his mecche,” wrote Robert Manning of Brunnea (The Story of England, ca. 1330). By the late sixteenth century the alliterative meet had been substituted and has survived to the present day.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer