make head or tail of en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(idiomatic, in the negative) To understand even minimally.
'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?'
1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries: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.
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:See if you can make head or tail of the last section in this chapter. I'm baffled.
- To determine to be good or bad.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| made head or tail of | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| made head or tail of | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| makes head or tail of | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| make heads or tails of | US, alternative | lexicographic | |
| making head or tail of | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |
Antonyms
make neither head nor tail of · make head nor tail of
Relateds
coin toss · heads or tails · rhyme or reason
Translations (23)
fi ei päätä eikä häntää (understand even minimally) · hu kiokoskodik (understand even minimally) · gd dèan bun no bàrr (understand even minimally) · fi ymmärtää ollenkaan (understand even minimally) · pl siedzieć jak na tureckim kazaniu (understand even minimally) · es no encontrar ni pies ni cabeza a (understand even minimally) · pl połapać się (understand even minimally) · cmn 勉強理解 /勉强理解 (understand even minimally) · hu se füle, se farka (understand even minimally) · yue 唔知頭唔知路 /唔知头唔知路 (understand even minimally) · ca no té ni cap ni peus (understand even minimally) · hu eligazodik (rajta) (understand even minimally) · fi ymmärtää mitään (understand even minimally) · de sich einen Reim darauf machen (understand even minimally) · es no ver ni pies ni cabeza a (understand even minimally) · cs to nedává ani hlavu ani patu (understand even minimally) · cmn 略知一二 (understand even minimally) · it venirne a capo (understand even minimally) · hu kihámoz/kihoz belőle (valamit) (understand even minimally) · fi ei löytää päätä eikä häntää (understand even minimally) · hu egy szót/kukkot ért belőle (se/sem) (understand even minimally) · es sacar lo que el negro del sermón (understand even minimally) · hu zöld ágra vergődik (vele) (understand even minimally)