drill down

verb

drilled down; drilling down; drills down

transitive + intransitive

: to thoroughly consider or analyze : examine

If you drill down into his platform, it's mostly the same stuff Democrats support, but more of it …

—Jonathan Chait

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

Hurley didn’t exactly drill down on the pick, which was Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht. —Bob Raissman, New York Daily News, 29 June 2024

Scientists would need to find a way to drill down deep enough into the planet’s crust to confirm the potential of life and the presence of water. —Greg Wehner, Fox News, 13 Aug. 2024

Some researchers say drug companies should make more of their data available to the public so that researchers can drill down to look for effects on eating disorders. —Liz Szabo, NBC News, 31 July 2024

The team drilled down an astonishing 4,160 ft (1,268 m) into the peridotite, and recovered 71% of the rock. —Michael Irving, New Atlas, 9 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above