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

That’s on the back of an ongoing migration to online car buying, which currently accounts for only 2% of used-vehicle sales, “as consumers get more comfortable with purchasing online,” he said.

From MarketWatch

The formula hasn’t been raised since 1999 to account for inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal

Earlier this year, enough of his developers had individual accounts that he decided to get an enterprise account for the company.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fully electric vehicles accounted for 97.6 percent of new registrations last month in Norway, which had set the goal of achieving 100 percent zero-emission car sales as of this year.

From Barron's

Just two Big Tech stocks have accounted for more than a third of the S&P 500’s gains so far this year, underscoring how the market has become increasingly concentrated around major companies.

From MarketWatch