not able to make anything out

not able to make anything out (of something)

Failing or unable to understand, decipher, or make sense (of something). I tried reading the hieroglyphs on the ancient tablet, but it was so worn down that I wasn't able to make anything out. See if you can figure out what this contract is saying—I wasn't able to make anything out of all that legal mumbo jumbo.

See also: able, anything, make, not, out, to

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

not able to make anything out (of someone or something)

unable to understand someone or something. (Not able to is often expressed as can't. The anything may refer to something specific, as in the first example.) I can't make sense out of what you just said. We were not able to make anything out of the message.

See also: able, anything, make, not, out, to

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.