drill down

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drill down (third-person singular simple present drills down, present participle drilling down, simple past and past participle drilled down)

1. (intransitive, literally) To examine something on a more detailed level.

   The issue can be drilled down to a simple yes or no.

2. (idiomatic, software) To examine information at another level or in greater detail; especially in a database, to navigate to a more detailed level or record.

   Coordinate terms: drill out, drill through, drill in, drill up

   From the employee list, you can drill down to find addresses and pay history.

3. (idiomatic, software) To replace data with more specific data.

   Clicking here lets you replace the annual sales data with monthly data, drilling down to help you track revenue.

4. (intransitive, sports) To practice maneuvers in order to memorize them; to drill thoroughly (to practice).

   We've drilled down on guarding players with his skillset.

5. (transitive, basketball) To score points; to do well in a basketball game.

   They drilled down three pointers throughout the second half.

• get down to bedrock, get down to brass tacks

drill down (plural drill downs)

1. (of marching bands) an internal competition used to practice marching commands, in which the last person caught improperly executing a command wins

   We knew someone had lost when the last two people in the drill down ended up facing each other.

• down drill