掘り下げる

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The spelling is 掘り下げる, read ほりさげる, and it is an ichidan transitive compound of 掘る, meaning dig, and 下げる, meaning lower.
• Basic usage: The basic sense of 掘り下げる is to dig physically deeper or to examine a topic or cause beyond the surface and in greater detail.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Physical depth and analytical depth
  • The forms are 掘り下げた and 掘り下げて. The first describes digging farther down into the ground, while the second figuratively describes analyzing a cause more deeply.
• One more meter of digging and closer analysis at a meeting
  • 固い地面をさらに一メートル掘り下げた。 — We dug one meter deeper into the hard ground.
  • 次の会議では原因をもう少し掘り下げて考える。 — At the next meeting, we will examine the cause in greater depth.