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View synonyms for bottom line

bottom line

noun

  1. the last line of a financial statement, used for showing net profit or loss.
  2. net profit or loss.
  3. the deciding or crucial factor.
  4. the ultimate result; outcome.


bottom line

noun

  1. the last line of a financial statement that shows the net profit or loss of a company or organization
  2. the final outcome of a process, discussion, etc
  3. the most important or fundamental aspect of a situation
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


bottom line

  1. The last line in an audit , which shows profit or loss.


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Notes

“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.
By extension, “bottom line” refers to the final, determining consideration in a decision.
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Other Words From

  • bottom-line adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of bottom line1

First recorded in 1965–70
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Idioms and Phrases

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.
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Example Sentences

The bottom line is that antibody testing “for the purposes of vaccine decision-making” is not advisable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bottom line, she said, is that wearing any type of mask is better than not wearing one at all.

The bottom line, though, is that these tax structures could be updated to be more equitable.

The bottom line is that the threat of snow for Sunday is diminishing.

The truth of the matter is, the contactless experience is no longer just a “nice-to-have” but a necessity that impacts the retailer’s bottom line.

From Digiday

Bottom line is that it will only be a BVR [beyond visual range] airplane.

Israeli elections means a time out And that brings us to the bottom line.

It seems to me that we are dealing with more than bottom-line economics and bottom-squeezing ergonomics.

Bottom line is we should expect to hear Sunday that the grand jury has not indicted Wilson.

The bottom line is that Ebola is terrible and the world is not doing enough.

The altered die has the three vertical lines, but the horizontal lines are omitted to the point where the bottom line begins.

The bottom line, being nearest to the centre of the circle, is now shorter than the centre line.

Page 263, after the word insects (bottom line of note), add, but the whole marking is suggestive of distastefulness.

In like manner, the totals in the bottom line are all equivalent to percentages since 100 buds of each parent tree were used.

Our plan will improve the bottom line for more than 23 million small businesses.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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