make head or tail of
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Not understood.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Maybe another two hours, Chief, I'm still trying to make head or tail of this Gruninger case.
I'd never made head or tail of it myself.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “make head or tail of” mean?
Not understood.
Is “make head or tail of” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.