boil down

verb3

1. •
   To reduce in volume by boiling.

   • He boiled the soup down so it wouldn't be so weak.
2. •
   To become reduced (to the most central elements or ingredients: to the essence, core, or implication for action).

   • So what this boils down to is that you still owe me that fifty bucks.
3. •
   To reduce (to the most central elements or ingredients: to the essence, core, or implication for action).

   • My dissertation is 342 pages long, and I'm required to boil it down to a one-page abstract?!