The term 'boil down' is a phrase that means to REDUCE or CONDENSE something into its most basic form. This can be done through a variety of methods, such as reducing, decocting, decoction, condensing, and ABBREVIATION. Reducing is the process of removing unnecessary elements from something in order to make it simpler. Decocting is the process of boiling a liquid until it is reduced to a concentrated form. Decoction is the process of boiling a substance in water until it is reduced to a concentrated form. Condensing is the process of making something more concise by removing unnecessary words or phrases. ABBREVIATION is the process of shortening a word or phrase by removing letters or syllables. All of these processes are used to boil down something into its most basic form.