Bottom-line
the last line of a financial statement, used for showing net profit or loss.
net profit or loss.
the deciding or crucial factor.
the ultimate result; outcome.
Contemporary Examples
JP Morgan Losses, Barclays’s Bad Bet: It’s a Bad Day for Banks Alex Klein June 27, 2012
Putin Waves a White Flag on Ukraine Anna Nemtsova June 24, 2014
Flying Coach Is the New Hell: How Airlines Engineer You Out of Room Clive Irving November 24, 2014
Camp Fashion Design Draws Budding Designers To New York Robin Givhan July 12, 2012
Big Boy Obama and the GOP Babies Michael Tomasky July 24, 2011
noun
the last line of a financial statement that shows the net profit or loss of a company or organization
the final outcome of a process, discussion, etc
the most important or fundamental aspect of a situation
n.
Note: By extension, “bottom line” refers to the final, determining consideration in a decision.
Note: “Bottom line” also has a derogatory implication when it refers to those people whose attention to the bottom line prevents them from recognizing the value of anything else.
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.
Read Also:
- Bottom-line--the
bottom line, the The bookkeeping figure showing profit or loss The result of any computation or estimate, esp one showing total costs: I’ll go half if the bottom line’s OK Any final decision or judgment: Let me tell you the bottom line A fundamental or crucial point of fact; the essence; the NITTY-GRITTY: The bottom […]
- Bottom-liner
a person, as an executive, accountant, or stockholder, who puts the net profits of a business ahead of all other considerations.
- Bottom-man-on-the-totem-pole
bottom man on the totem pole
- Bottommost
of, relating to, or situated at the bottom. (of one of a series) farthest down; lowest. bottom. Historical Examples Ladies and Gentlemen Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb Ladies and Gentlemen Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb The Lost Ambassador E. Phillips Oppenheim adjective lowest or most fundamental
- Bottom-of-the-barrel
bottom of the barrel The least desirable, the dregs, as in The nominating committee had trouble finding candidates; they were settling for the bottom of the barrel. The phrase often occurs in scrape the bottom of the barrel, meaning “to use the least desirable elements” (because one has no choice), as in Bringing up that […]