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

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tries to account for this phenomenon through seasonal adjustments, but price increases have been unusually large in January since 2021 as the U.S. emerged from the pandemic.

From MarketWatch

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tries to account for this phenomenon through seasonal adjustments, but price increases have been unusually large in January since 2021 as the U.S. emerged from the pandemic.

From MarketWatch

The Dow is weighted by share price, calculated by adding the prices of the index’s 30 stocks and dividing by a factor that accounts for changes, such as stock splits and new index entrants.

From The Wall Street Journal

As Bank of France governor, he oversaw interest rates on state-regulated financial products like the hugely popular Livret A savings accounts and accounts for low-income households, as well as efforts to limit excessive personal debt.

From Barron's

The excitement dissipated when it came out that a single contract with OpenAI, which doesn’t make a profit, accounted for the vast majority of that backlog.

From Barron's