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

To build this reserve of strength, Flanagan suggested drilling down on regular resistance training activities, which simply means making the body push against an external force. —Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 27 Mar. 2026

Raghunathan says that people around the world are now drilling down and asking questions about localized fare. —Kalpana Mohan, Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2026

At the Degemar quarries, drilled down to 30 meters (yards) under sea level, bright blue ponds of sulfur springs pool the travertine residue as flat-bed trucks haul stone slabs weighing 33 tons up to street level. —ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026

The second round of interviews were to drill down on specific points made either during the initial deposition, or to follow up on points made by other current and former employees. —Joe Vardon, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2026

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