chalk

Not by a long chalk. When a person attempts to effect a particular object, in which he fails, we say, "He can't do it by a long chalk."

Chalk
·vt To rub or mark with chalk. II. Chalk ·vt To manure with chalk, as land. III. Chalk ·vt To make...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
to chalk out
To mark or trace out as with chalk.--Johnson. To chalk out a plan or proceeding, is to devise or lay...

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
chalk, to
To cut. ♦ To walk one's chalks, to run off; also, an ordeal for drunkenness, to see whether the su...

The Sailor's Word-Book
Chalk Stones
[Lime] ...

William Smith's Bible Dictionary
to walk the chalk
To walk straight. "The Tallapoosa volunteers," said Capt. Suggs; "so let every body look out and wa...

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.