make head or tail of

Definitions

1. To understand even minimally.
   idiomatic
2. To determine to be good or bad.

Equivalents

Examples

“See⟳ if you can make⟳ head or tail of the last⟳ section in this chapter. I'm baffled.”

“He was unable to make⟳ head or tail of some of the pattern-solving puzzles in the IQ test⟳.”

“IT has been such a headliny week, what with [Nikita] Khrushchev and all, events moving swiftly, frenzied activity in a wide variety of fields, action and reaction, tests, blasts, notes and comments that nobody except the Alsop Brothers seem to be able to make⟳ head or tail of it in the modest compass of a small column.”

CEFR level