drill down

verb

drilled down; drilling down; drills down

transitive + intransitive

: to thoroughly consider or analyze : examine

Although drilling down into all of the complications of the 2007 to 2009 economic and financial crisis is a task requiring more verbosity than a column permits, a quick rundown for context is worthwhile.

—M. Ray Perryman

But we don't have much data that drills down on the voting preferences of people in specific jobs, to distinguish between, say, dishwashers and factory workers.

—Irv Randolph

Matches are based on a lengthy questionnaire that drills down the specifics of your dating preferences and personality.

—Dorothy Pitti

Examples of drill down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Once a potential location has been found, the next step for the company is to drill down to confirm the reserve exists and is hot enough to produce utility-scale power. —Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 12 Dec. 2025

As a county commissioner, she was known for drilling down deep on problems and then chipping away at what was needed for action. —Miami Herald, 10 Dec. 2025

Editor’s Pick Near the Krafla geothermal-energy plant, scientists drilled down to magma, creating the most powerful geothermal well in the world. —Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 20 Nov. 2025

Well, let’s drill down on one potential theme. —Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 17 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for drill down

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown