boil down
phrasal verb.phrasal verb. to reduce a lot of information or a complex situation to its most important parts.
phrasal verb. to reduce a complex argument, situation, or set of facts to its essential components; often used to identify the core cause or primary factor.
The whole problem boils down to a lack of money.
After hours of debate, the disagreement boils down to a simple difference in values.
Most of the geopolitical tensions in the region eventually boil down to historical disputes over water rights and border security.
As an allusion to the technique of reduction or decreasing liquid content of food by boiling much of its water off.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- complicate
- expand on
- elaborate
- Particles
- down
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- boil + down + to + object
usually followed by the preposition 'to' and a noun phrase representing the core essence.
use the cooking metaphor of boiling a liquid until only the thick, strong essence remains to help students visualize the reduction of information.
The issue boils down on money.The issue boils down to money.the phrasal verb 'boil down' requires the preposition 'to' when introducing the result or core reason.
Last updated April 24, 2026