account for

account for
1) PHRASAL VERB If a particular thing accounts for a part or proportion of something, that part or proportion consists of that thing, or is used or produced by it.

[V P n] Computers account for 5% of the country's commercial electricity consumption.

2) PHRASAL VERB If something accounts for a particular fact or situation, it causes or explains it.

[V P n] Now, the gene they discovered today doesn't account for all those cases.

Syn:
3) PHRASAL VERB If you can account for something, you can explain it or give the necessary information about it.

[V P n] How do you account for the company's alarmingly high staff turnover?...

[V P n] He said only 200 of the train's 600 passengers had been accounted for.

Syn:
4) PHRASAL VERB If someone has to account for an action or policy, they are responsible for it, and may be required to explain it to other people or be punished if it fails.

[V P n] The President and the President alone must account for his government's reforms.

Syn:
5) PHRASAL VERB If a sum of money is accounted for in a budget, it has been included in that budget for a particular purpose.

[be V-ed P] The really heavy redundancy costs have been accounted for. [Also V P n]

6) PHRASAL VERB If you account for an enemy or opponent, you kill, destroy, or beat them.

[V P n] In the first ten days of May our squadron accounted for at least seven enemy aircraft...

[V P n] In the final they accounted for Brentford by three goals to two.


English dictionary. 2008.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • account for — give a satisfactory record or explanation of. → account account for succeed in killing or defeating. → account account for supply or make up (a specified amount). → account …   English new terms dictionary

  • account for — (something) 1. to explain the reason for something. More police on the streets accounted for less street crime. 2. to form the total of an amount of something. In Florida, people over 60 account for more than 25 percent of the population …   New idioms dictionary

  • account for — index enlighten, explain, exposit, justify, rationalize, solve, support (justify), vindicate …   Law dictionary

  • account for — ► account for 1) supply or make up (a specified amount). 2) give a satisfactory record or explanation of. 3) succeed in killing or defeating. Main Entry: ↑account …   English terms dictionary

  • account for — [v] offer reason, explanation answer for, clarify, elucidate, explain, illuminate, justify, rationalize, resolve; concept 57 Ant. underestimate …   New thesaurus

  • account for — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms account for : present tense I/you/we/they account for he/she/it accounts for present participle accounting for past tense accounted for past participle accounted for 1) account for something to be the reason… …   English dictionary

  • account for — verb 1. be the reason or explanation for (Freq. 24) The recession accounts for the slow retail business • Hypernyms: ↑be • Verb Frames: Something s something 2. give reasons for (Freq. 6) …   Useful english dictionary

  • account for — 1) they must account for the delay Syn: explain, answer for, give reasons for, justify 2) excise duties account for over half the price Syn: constitute, make up, comprise, represent, be responsible for, produce …   Synonyms and antonyms dictionary

  • account for — 1) they must account for the delay Syn: explain, answer for, give reasons for, rationalize, justify 2) taxes account for much of the price of gasoline Syn: constitute, make up, form, compose, represent …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • account for — phr verb Account for is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑export, ↑import, ↑sale Account for is used with these nouns as the object: ↑discrepancy, ↑fact, ↑per cent, ↑variation …   Collocations dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”