1
general::
Phrase(s): the bottom line
1. Lit. the last figure on a financial profit-and-loss statement, or on a bill. • What’s the bottom line? How much do I owe you? • Don’t tell me all those figures! Just tell me the bottom line. 2. Fig. the result; the final outcome. • I know about all the problems, but what is the bottom line? What will happen? • The bottom line is that you have to go to the meeting because no one else can.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
The ultimate result, the upshot; also, the main point or crucial factor. For example, The bottom line is that the chairman wants to dictate all of the board's decisions, or Whether or not he obeyed the law is the bottom line. This is an accounting term that refers to the earnings figures that appear on the bottom (last) line of a statement. It began to be transferred to other contexts in the mid-1900s.
American Heritage Idioms