business end

noun

the front part or end of a tool, weapon, etc., with which the work is done or from which a missile is ejected, as opposed to the handle or butt: the business end of a revolver; the business end of a screwdriver.

Origin of business end

First recorded in 1875–80

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for business end

Historical Examples of business end

They'll see now that some of us know the business-end of a musket.
How Canada was Won
F. S. Brereton
The Gentleman who sits on a pin with its business-end uppermost.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 102, June 11, 1892
Various

British Dictionary definitions for business end

business end

noun

informal the part of a tool or weapon that does the work, as contrasted with the handle

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