as in summarizing
to make into a short statement of the main points (as of a report)
the discussion of the problem can be boiled down to a couple of critical points
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Recent Examples of boiling down
Drinks In the drinks department, blueberries are excellent for freezing into ice cubes, infusing into water or tea, or boiling down into a simple syrup, says Hall.
—
Kirsten Nunez, Martha Stewart, 31 Dec. 2025
Paul fears art imitating life by also boiling down to breadline survival strategies.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
Kirsten Nunez, Martha Stewart, 31 Dec. 2025
Paul fears art imitating life by also boiling down to breadline survival strategies.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for boiling down
Verb
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Some users asked Claude to complete tasks end-to-end, such as translating text and summarizing documents, while others worked with the system iteratively, using it to draft, refine or explore ideas alongside human judgment.—
Anisha Sircar,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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The Health Department would publish an annual report summarizing the findings.—
Maddy Keyes,
The Frontier,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Windass struggled, the sight of the 31-year-old dropping so deep 10 minutes from time to take the ball off Max Cleworth inside his own half summing up how disjointed the visitors had become.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
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Many Reddit users chimed in to offer their perspective, with one commenter summing up the sentiment shared by many.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Instead of simply outlining Eminem’s life, his fans play a large role in sharing what his music has meant to them throughout the decades.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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As previously reported by the Daily News, the USDOT sent a letter to the Gateway Development Commission and the MTA last month, outlining changes to its contracting practices that would be required to restore funding.—
Evan Simko-Bednarski,
New York Daily News,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Boiling down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/boiling%20down. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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