make head or tail of

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Verb

make head or tail of (third-person singular simple present makes head or tail of, present participle making head or tail of, simple past and past participle made head or tail of)

  1. (idiomatic, chiefly in the negative) To understand even minimally.
    Antonyms: make head nor tail of, make neither head nor tail of
    See if you can make head or tail of the last section in this chapter. I'm baffled.
    • 1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:
      'I cannot make head or tail of it,' confessed Miss Barrowford, as the senseful fingers crossed and recrossed the scrawl, now following a vague spidery line, now drawn where no visible mark appeared to lead. 'Is there any meaning, do you think?'
    • 1961 September 2, Silenus [pseudonym], “Before the Judge: No Smoking”, in Victoria Daily Times, volume 128, number 205, Victoria, B.C., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 5, column 1:
      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.
  2. To determine to be good or bad.

Translations

See also

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