account for

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

Idioms and Phrases

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 .

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]

Example Sentences

Revenues are better than they were before the pandemic, even when accounting for inflation.

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The difficulty then becomes accounting for the wild swings mile split to mile split.

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Berkshire’s cash including equivalents rose to a record $358 billion, after accounting for a payable for purchasing some short-term government debt, from $344 billion at the end of June.

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The contract generates more than $20 billion of revenue a year for Apple, nearly all of which falls to the bottom line, accounting for roughly a fifth of the company’s operating profit, analysts estimate.

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Importantly, semiconductor shipments—which account for more than one-fifth of the country’s total goods exports—remained strong, jumping 25% from a year earlier.

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