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

Because the margins can be major, but they don’t account for most of the Lakers’ offseason grade this summer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Meanwhile, sales in Europe, which account for about one-third of Shein’s revenue, are expected to face headwinds after the European Union eliminated a similar duty exemption for low-value goods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Unlike previous methods, the new calculations also account for non-equilibrium effects.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

Taken together, these donations account for the vast majority of the $13 million that America First Agricultural Action Inc. has raised so far this cycle.

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

You just blinked and thought you saw something odd—the same kind of explanations he’d tried to use to account for Katherine’s story, for Angela’s.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix