Boil down to means come down to the main point: after all the details, one thing is left. The choice boiled down to cost and travel time, so those two decided it. The image is from cooking: the liquid boils away and only the concentrate remains. Often with all: it all boils down to money. Boil something down means cut it to the essentials.
Want to use boil down to in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
a problem boils down to something; boil something down to its essentials
- The disagreement boils down to who will maintain the shared garden.
- For us, the choice boiled down to cost and travel time.
- Can you boil the report down to its three main findings?
What changed
First versionIn the end, it all boils down to that we don't have enough time.
RevisionIn the end, it all boils down to the fact that we don't have enough time.
It's tempting to put a that-clause straight after to: boils down to that we... But to here is a preposition, and a that-clause can't follow it directly. Add the fact: boils down to the fact that... Or keep it simple with a noun: it all boils down to time.
Depend on means the outcome is still open: it depends on the weather. Boil down to is the conclusion after you've thought it through: in the end, it boils down to the weather. Come down to is a near synonym: it comes down to money.
Your turn
After discussing every option, we agreed that it all boils down ___ reliability.
Show the answer
to — The expression always takes to: boil down to. On may come from depend on, but it doesn't belong here.
Describe a hard choice, between flats, jobs or trips, and say what it finally boiled down to.
The choice between the two venues boils down to how easily guests can get there.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.