The upshot is the final result of a series of events. The upshot was, what was the upshot, the upshot of it all.
It is nearly always used to cut a long story short, and it appears with the definite article almost without exception. The word comes from archery, where the upshot was the last shot of a match, which decided it.
1nounupshotThe final result of a series of events.
“The upshot of the meeting was that we all have to work on Saturday.”
upshot is a result.
Up plus shot, from the last shot of an archery match, the one that decided it.
Presumed from up + shot, referring to the last shot in a match of archery.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA