wrapping 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

   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.