account for

British  

verb

1. to give reasons for (an event, act, etc)

2. to make or provide a reckoning of (expenditure, payments, etc)

3. to be responsible for destroying, killing, or putting (people, aircraft, etc) out of action

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account for Idioms  

1. Be the determining factor in; cause. For example, The heat wave accounts for all this food spoilage , or Icy roads account for the increase in accidents .

2. Explain or justify, as in Jane was upset because her son couldn't account for the three hours between his last class and his arrival at home . Both of these related usages are derived from the literal meaning of the phrase, that is, “make a reckoning of an account.” [Second half of 1700s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

account for

Last year, Megaspeed appeared to have imported 50,000 more chips than Nvidia could account for, according to a Bloomberg report.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2026

Just five products, including smartphones, memory chips, and laptops, account for 20% of vulnerable products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

The AI system also used measurements of resting brain activity to account for changes in the participant's neural state before each stimulation.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2026

The money in a dependent-care account for 2027 has to be used by the end of the year, unless the employer has a small 2028 grace period.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026

Nathan still planned to interview them so he could put together an eyewitness account for The Daily Cal, UC Berkeley’s student paper.

From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English

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