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boil   down  

boil down

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boil down in WordNet English dictionary

verb
  1. cook until very little liquid is left
    "The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time"
    reduce  boil down  concentrate 
  2. be cooked until very little liquid is left
    "The sauce should reduce to one cup"
    boil down  reduce  decoct  concentrate 
  3. be the essential element
    "The proposal boils down to a compromise"
    reduce  come down  boil down 
WordNet Lexical Database v3.0, © 2006 Princeton University


boil down in English Wiktionary

 
  1. (verb) (idiom) As an allusion to the cooking technique of reducing liquids by heat, one "'boils down"' a problem, argument, etc. to its most central elements.
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