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Definition of 'boil down'

Word Frequency

boil down

phrasal verb
When you boil down a liquid or food, or when it boils down, it is boiled until there is less of it because some of the water in it has changed into steam or vapour.
He boils down the sauce and uses what's left. [VERB PARTICLE noun]
This may seem a large quantity of mushrooms, but they do boil down considerably. [VERB PARTICLE]
boil
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency

boil down in British

verb (adverb)
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.  boil down to
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency

boil down in American

1. 
to lessen in quantity by boiling, esp. so as to change consistency
2. 
to make more terse; condense; summarize
boil
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

Example sentences containing 'boil down'

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
`You must realise that, in your predicament, when you have too much fear, even the infinite outcomes boil down to two basic ones. Scarlett Thomas GOING OUT (2002)
I wondered how forty years of life could suddenly boil down to a lesson in triage. Parker, T. Jefferson SUMMER OF FEAR (1993)

Trends of 'boil down'

Used Occasionally. boil down is one of the 30000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary

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Nearby words of 'boil down'

  • Boiardo
  • boil
  • boil away
  • boil down
  • boil down to
  • boil off
  • boil over

  • All ENGLISH words that begin with 'B'

Related Terms of 'boil down'

  • boil down to

Source

Definition of boil down from the Collins English Dictionary

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