get one's arms around

Verb

get one's arms around (third-person singular simple present gets one's arms around, present participle getting one's arms around, simple past got one's arms around, past participle (UK) got one's arms around or (US) gotten one's arms around)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see get, arms, around.
   • The man tries to embrace the statue, but the statue disappears before he can get his arms around it and it reappears magically on the opposite side of the room.2011, Anthony Balducci, The Funny Parts: A History of Film Comedy Routines and Gags, →ISBN
2. To fully understand; to wrap one's head around; to get a handle on.
   • Rather, it is the way Pekka needs to get his arms around the data before making up his own mind.2003, Allan Katcher, Kenneth Pasternak, Managing Your Strengths, →ISBN, page 69
   • They can't get their arms around their feelings.2006, Jerry Goebel, Is There Hope For Me Now?, →ISBN, page 16
3. To manage, handle, or control; to get on top of.
   • Meese arrived back at the Justice Department at 12:45 p.m. and advised Reynolds, Cooper, and Richardson that the President had authorized him to "get his arms around the Iranian initiative."1995, Lee H. Hamilton, Daniel K. Inouye, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran/Contra Affair, →ISBN, page 305
   • The imperfect prince was a role he could get his arms around.2009, Vincent Bzdek, The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled, →ISBN