boil down

British  

verb

1. to reduce or be reduced in quantity and usually altered in consistency by boiling

   to boil a liquid down to a thick glue

2. 1. (intr) to be the essential element in something

   2. (tr) to summarize; reduce to essentials

---

boil down Idioms  

1. Simplify, summarize, or shorten, as in John finally managed to boil his thesis down to 200 pages .

2. boil down to . Be reducible to basic elements, be equivalent to. For example, What this issue boils down to is that the council doesn't want to spend more money . These metaphoric usages allude to reducing and concentrating a substance by boiling off liquid. [Late 1800s]

---

Example Sentences

It really boiled down to three main challenges:

From MarketWatch

As far as I can tell, the primary argument against the 60/40 portfolio boils down to the claim that bonds no longer provide the diversification benefit that they used to.

From MarketWatch

Ultimately, it boils down to the fact that having super efficient and powerful chips means nothing if you don’t have the electricity to use them.

From Barron's

Instead, well-being often boils down to accepting that a loved one can’t do things they once did, that their personalities can change and that anger, guilt and fear are normal.

From The Wall Street Journal

His thesis boils down to two determining factors: growth in Gap’s beauty and handbag businesses, and improvement within Athleta, its activewear label.

From Barron's

Related Words

• adapt
• alter
• analyze
• annotate
• arrange
• assemble
• censor
• choose
• compile
• compose
• delete
• prepare
• publish
• rearrange
• revise
• select