wrap one's head around

Verb

wrap one's head around (third-person singular simple present wraps one's head around, present participle wrapping one's head around, simple past and past participle wrapped one's head around)

1. (figuratively, informal) To come to a good understanding of.
   • It is sometimes mind-boggling to try and wrap one's head around all the possible information sets which one should try to address.1978, Science Policy Foundation, Science & Public Policy, volume 5, page 456
   • “I know how important it is to vote, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the options at that point,” Ms. Dibble said of the 2016 election.2020 November 1, “Election at Hand, Biden Leads Trump in Four Key States, Poll Shows”, in New York Times

   Synonyms:

   get one's head around

2. (informal, uncommon, more literally) To crash into (something, especially a pole) messily and fatally while travelling in a motor vehicle.
   • “Some crazy young bastard wrapped his head around a pole.”2011, David Adams Richards, The Coming of Winter, page 14
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see wrap, head, around.
   • The words barely left the lips when there came a loud cry and a trample of hoof beats. It was Kelly, radiant and shining, her mane was whipping with her speed. I cried out to her and the mare came to a stop and wrapped her head around mine.2005, Charles R. Saint, The A.A.H.