account

[[t]əka͟ʊnt[/t]]

♦

accounts, accounting, accounted

1) N-COUNT If you have an account with a bank or a similar organization, you have an arrangement to leave your money there and take some out when you need it.

Some banks make it difficult to open an account...

I had two accounts with Natwest, a savings account and a current account.

2) N-COUNT In business, a regular customer of a company can be referred to as an account, especially when the customer is another company.

Biggart Donald, the Glasgow-based marketing agency, has won two Edinburgh accounts.

3) N-COUNT: usu pl Accounts are detailed records of all the money that a person or business receives and spends.

He kept detailed accounts.

...an account book.

4) N-COUNT: with supp, usu N of n An account is a written or spoken report of something that has happened.

He gave a detailed account of what happened on the fateful night...

According to police accounts, Mr and Mrs Hunt were found dead on the floor of their kitchen.

Syn:

statement

5) N-COUNT: usu N of n, oft poss N An account of something is a theory which is intended to explain or describe it. [FORMAL]

This basic utilitarian model gives a relatively unsophisticated account of human behaviour...

Science, on Weber's account, is an essentially value-free activity.

6) VERB: usu passive If you say that something is accounted a particular thing, you are reporting someone's judgement or opinion that it is that thing. [FORMAL]

[be V-ed n] The opening day of the battle was, nevertheless, accounted a success.

[be V-ed adj] ...homosexuals, whose sexual behaviour is still accounted sinful by the church.

7) → See also , bank account, , deposit account, joint account

8) PHRASE: PHR with cl If you say that something is true by all accounts or from all accounts, you believe it is true because other people say so.

He is, by all accounts, a superb teacher.

9) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone gave a good account of themselves in a particular situation, you mean that they performed well, although they may not have been completely successful.

We have been hindered by our lack of preparation, but I'm sure we will give a good account of ourselves.

10) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you say that something is of no account or of little account, you mean that it is very unimportant and is not worth considering. [FORMAL]

These obscure groups were of little account in either national or international politics.

11) PHRASE: PHR after v If you buy or pay for something on account, you pay nothing or only part of the cost at first, and pay the rest later.

He was ordered to pay the company ₤500,000 on account pending a final assessment of his liability.

12) PHR-PREP You use on account of to introduce the reason or explanation for something.

The President declined to deliver the speech himself, on account of a sore throat...

A newly-married couple, he thought, on account of their walking so close together.

Syn:

because of

13) PHRASE: usu adj/n PHR Your feelings on someone 's account are the feelings you have about what they have experienced or might experience, especially when you imagine yourself to be in their situation.

Mollie told me what she'd done and I was really scared on her account.

Syn:

on someone's behalf

14) PHRASE: PHR after v If you tell someone not to do something on your account, you mean that they should do it only if they want to, and not because they think it will please you. [SPOKEN]

Don't leave on my account.

Syn:

for your sake

15) PHRASE (emphasis) If you say that something should on no account be done, you are emphasizing that it should not be done under any circumstances.

On no account should the mixture come near boiling.

Syn:

under no circumstances

16) PHRASE: usu PHR after v, PHR with cl You can use on that account or on this account when you want to say that something happens for the reason you have just mentioned.

Wine is radioactive but few people stop drinking it on that account.

17) PHRASE If you say that something concerning a particular person is true by his or her own account, you mean that you believe it because that person has said it is true.

He was by his own account an ambitious workaholic.

18) PHRASE: PHR after v If you take part in a business activity on your own account, you do it for yourself, and not as a representative or employee of a company.

She had plans to set up in business on her own account.

19) PHRASE: PHR after v If you do something on your own account, you do it because you want to and without being asked, and you take responsibility for your own action.

I told him if he withdrew it was on his own account.

20) PHR-RECIP: V inflects, PHR with n, pl-n PHR To settle accounts with an enemy or opponent means to bring your fight or quarrel to an end by defeating them. [WRITTEN]

...until the great day came when the Germans could finally settle accounts with the British...

Their sleep is regularly disturbed by the sound of gunfire as criminal gangs settle their nightly accounts.

21) PHRASE: V inflects If you take something into account, or take account of something, you consider it when you are thinking about a situation or deciding what to do.

The defendant asked for 21 similar offences to be taken into account...

Urban planners in practice have to take account of many interest groups in society.

Syn:

consider

22) PHRASE: V inflects, oft PHR for n If someone is called, held, or brought to account for something they have done wrong, they are made to explain why they did it, and are often criticized or punished for it.

Individuals who repeatedly provide false information should be called to account for their actions.

Phrasal Verbs:

- account for