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bottom line

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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.

See also: bottom, line

somebody's bottom line

the lowest amount of money that someone is willing to give or receive in payment for something My bottom line on this job is $5000 - I can't do it for less.

See also: bottom, line

bottom line

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.

See also: bottom, line