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

On cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur drilled down on Wier Vaught’s history as a top Madigan aide, asking whether she was often seen on the House floor. —Ray Long, Chicago Tribune, 15 Jan. 2025

Bitdefender drills down very strongly into just how your kids use their time online, with three additional types of online time control: Focus time, Bedtime, and Family time. —PCMAG, 13 Jan. 2025

Now, this article isn’t about the political ramifications of this situation or drilling down into precisely what happened, there are plenty of other sources for that. —Callum Booth, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024

Photo : Ten Speed Press Soups, Salads, Sandwiches In The Bear, Matty Matheson’s character may be surrounded by the world of fine dining, but the chef’s latest cookbook drills down into more casual fare. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 21 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1996, in the meaning defined above