drill down

Related to drill down: drill up

drill down

1. To bore a hole down into something; to drill in a downward direction. Unfortunately, we need to drill down into the ground to try to find the burst pipe.
2. To examine or study something in detail. OK, how can I drill down and get more information on each payee on this spreadsheet?
See also: down, drill
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

drill down (to something)

to bore downward to something or some distance. We drilled down to a layer of waterbearing sand, hoping to make a well. They had to drill down to bedrock to make a base for the piers that hold the building up.
See also: down, drill
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • bear down
  • be down to (do something)
  • be down to something
  • come a gutser
  • bear down on (someone or something)
  • be down to (one)
  • be down to somebody/something
  • bounce up and down
  • bog
  • bog down
References in periodicals archive
Features such as "intelligent" drill down allow users to dynamically navigate through the underlying data, guided by user-specified criteria.
Now you can use search boxes to directly filter & drill down into your charts.
If you've been following my, suggestions of several years ago, you create hyperlinks in Excel files and e-mail the files so clients can drill down into them for details (see "Financial Reports in a Snap," JofA, Apr.00, page 31).
To understand the various parts or elements of the Web-enabled IFC, the user can drill down to a particular activity block linked to a template or knowledge object containing pertinent acquisition information about that activity.
If I can provide an interactive tool with which they can drill down and get multiple layers of information, they're more likely to use it and ultimately sell more of our product," Long says.
Users can login from the Performance Console and drill down to the drivers of performance and customer experience for change.
Search results are displayed by categories in colorful circles that can be clicked to drill down to subtopic circles until squares are displayed that represent individual Web resources.
An overall picture of the computer's security health is provided, and users can drill down to learn how to improve the security score.--PIVX Solutions
Summary reports provide the opportunity to drill down to specific exceptions and transactions.
Through an intuitive, Web-enabled dashboard interface, Hyperion Intelligence allows users to drill down into critical process data collected by the Metastorm Business Process Management software--either from a real- time process alert, dashboard indicator or database repository--analyze that data, and make informed decisions about how to improve the overall process or resolve business issues that arise on a case-by-case basis.
Keane Analytics gathers critical data from the VistaKEANE system, turns them into meaningful information, and delivers them to the user through: (1) Executive Dashboards--real-time snapshots of key indicators such as census, AR days, and Qls, with the ability to drill down to source data and create reports and graphs; (2) Workflow Alerts--Keane Analytics follows instructions and automatically sends an e-mail to the finance manager or pages the director of nursing if predetermined criteria are met; and (3) Data Mining and Reporting--unlimited access to data in all VistaKEANE products with the ability to combine data to answer an unlimited number of questions.
The solution enables users to drill down through a series of visual maps to gain a deeper understanding of what's going on in the business, according to Antarctica.
Its features include: tracking each step of the process; alerting the user when responses are expected or when deadlines are approaching; management reports that provide productivity and summary information across accounts; account information drill down capabilities; automatic creation of e-mails or faxes that can be directed to the appropriate enrollment manager, provider contact or payer contact; automated fill-in of payer agreements stored in PDF format; and direct, limited provider access for data entry and checking the status of its enrollments.
"We have a data-analytics powerhouse that can help us drill down and identify what loss drivers might be occurring, even on a state-by-state basis, and with that we develop loss-prevention materials for the policyholders."