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

But the decision to drill down on a vintage vibe was a smart one. —Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2026

There is still a lot of work for the Canucks to do in drilling down and finalizing their draft list, of course, and the year-end amateur meetings won’t take place until May. —Thomas Drance, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026

The skit started out drilling down on the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament’s Final Four before deftly segueing to the April 2 firing of Pam Bondi. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 4 Apr. 2026

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked, drilling down into the logistics of how the government would actually figure out who is entitled to citizenship and who is not. —Mark Sherman, Chicago Tribune, 1 Apr. 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