Boil down
Boil down verb - To make into a short statement of the main points (as of a report).
Both terms in one sentence
- Similar to the Star Wars example above, a huge portion of special effects in Tokusatsu series boil down to a jump cut with a bunch of flashy stuff over top to try and hide it.
Source: Jump Cut - Goes on HBO and breaks ratings records, as the plots boil down to "90% Girl-on-Girl Is Hot, 10% vampire stuff."
Source: Just For Fun / Trope Title Shows - They basically boil down to not bossing others around and not being bossed around (since rape, theft, or murder are means of doing stuff to people they don't want, these count).
Source: There Are No Rules
Cite this Source
Stuff and Boil down. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 22, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/boil_down/stuff
Boil down & Stuff. N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/boil_down/stuff>.
Stuff or Boil down. 2016. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/boil_down/stuff.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "boil down" and "stuff" have occurred on timeline