not worth the candle Definition

candle
noun

1. A piece of wax or (especially formerly) tallow, usually cylindrical and formed around a wick, which is burnt to provide light.

verb

candled, candling
1. To test (eggs, etc) by examining against a bright light.

Idiom: burn the candle at both ends

To exhaust oneself with work or activity from early morning till late in the night; to try to do too many things.

Idiom: not fit to hold a candle to something or someone (not able to hold a candle to something or someone)

To be noticeably inferior to them.

Idiom: not worth the candle

Said of a task, etc: not worth the trouble and effort it would take.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon candel.