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

Moreover, MOPs can be stacked — so to speak — to effectively drill down to a target located deeper than 200 feet. —Nbc News, NBC news, 19 June 2025

To drill down further on that last point: La Liga’s president is already calling for the CWC to end. —Chris Branch, New York Times, 19 June 2025

Speaking at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival, the star also drilled down on Season 2. —Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 14 June 2025

By tracking key data points, a company might be able to spot who closed the most tickets—and drill down into details. —Ryan Wong, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 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