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narrow down meaning and examples

2025-09-20

Meaning

“Narrow down” means to reduce the number of possibilities, choices, or options to a smaller and more manageable set. It is often used when making decisions or focusing on fewer items from a larger group.

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: Phrasal verb (transitive)

  • Structure: narrow down sth / narrow sth down

  • Often followed by:

    • to + number/amount (e.g., “narrowed down to three candidates”)
    • to + choice/option (e.g., “narrowed down to one solution”)

Patterns

  • narrow down + options/choices + to + final selection
  • narrow sth down from … to …

Common Phrases

  • narrow down the choices
  • narrow down the list
  • narrow down the possibilities
  • narrow down the suspects

Collocations

  • verb + narrow down: help narrow down, try to narrow down
  • noun + narrow down: list narrowed down, field narrowed down
  • adjective + narrow down: successfully narrowed down, finally narrowed down

Examples

  1. We need to narrow down our vacation options before booking.
  2. The police narrowed down the suspects to just two people.
  3. After hours of discussion, we finally narrowed down the list of candidates to three.
  4. You should narrow down your research topic to something more specific.
  5. The company narrowed down the job applications to the top five.
  6. I’ve narrowed it down to two possible houses to buy.
  7. The investigation narrowed down the possible causes of the fire.
  8. We need to narrow down the scope of the project to meet the deadline.
  • reduce
  • limit
  • focus on
  • refine
  • whittle down
  • boil down

Antonym

  • expand
  • broaden
  • widen