lay a glove on

verb4

1. •
   To hit with a boxing glove.

   • In round three, Toxa moved in and out jabbing, scoring often with the bigger man unable to lay a glove on him. — 2012
2. •
   To physically touch, especially in a way that causes hurt.

   • 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. — 2007
3. •
   To harm (someone's) reputation, to make an accusation stick.

   • 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.” — 2003
4. •
   To match, to provide with meaningful competition or be able to handle.

   • 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. — 1994