account

[ uh-kount ]

/ əˈkaʊnt /

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See synonyms for: account / accounted / accounting / accounts on Thesaurus.com

noun

an oral or written description of particular events or situations; narrative: an account of the meetings; an account of the trip.

an explanatory statement of conduct, as to a superior.

a statement of reasons, causes, etc., explaining some event.

reason; basis: On this account I'm refusing your offer.

importance; worth; value; consequence: things of no account.

estimation; judgment: In his account it was an excellent piece of work.

an amount of money deposited with a bank, as in a checking or savings account: My account is now with Third National.

Also called charge account. an accommodation or service extended by a business to a customer or client permitting the charging of goods or services, the returning for credit of unsatisfactory merchandise, etc.: Do you have an account at this store? My account with the restaurant is past due.

a statement of financial transactions.

Bookkeeping.

a formal record of the debits and credits relating to the person, business, etc., named at the head of the ledger account.
a balance of a specified period's receipts and expenditures.

Commerce.

a business relation in which credit is used.
any customer or client, especially one carried on a regular credit basis.
Also called advertising account. the business assigned to an advertising agency by a client: The toothpaste account was awarded to a new agency last year.

Digital Technology. an electronic identity, as a username and its associated data, assigned to an individual or group for secure, personalized access to a website, network, digital service, etc.: I don’t access my work account from my home computer.Your email account has been hacked!

verb (used without object)

to give an explanation (usually followed by for): to account for the accident.

to answer concerning one's conduct, duties, etc. (usually followed by for): to account for the missing documents.

to provide a report on money received, kept, and spent.

to cause (usually followed by for): The humidity accounts for our discomfort. His reckless driving accounted for the accident.

verb (used with object)

to regard; consider as: I account myself well paid.

to assign or impute (usually followed by to): the many virtues accounted to him.

SYNONYMS FOR account

1 report, chronicle.

2 justification.

5 import, significance.

6 consideration.

See synonyms for account on Thesaurus.com

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!

In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”

Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

affect

effect

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Idioms for account

call to account,

to hold accountable; blame; reprimand: Call them to account for having endangered their lives.
ask for an explanation of.

give a good / bad account of, to do something or conduct oneself in a good (bad, etc.) manner: She gave a good account of herself in the tennis tournament.

hold to account, to hold responsible; hold accountable or culpable: If any of the silver is missing, I'm going to hold you to account.

on account, as an installment or a partial payment: I can't pay the balance, but here's $10 on account.

on account of,

by reason of; because of.
for the sake of: She saw it through on account of me.

on all accounts, in any case; under any circumstances.Also at all accounts.

on no account, under no circumstances; absolutely not: On no account should you buy that painting without having it appraised.

take account of,

to make allowance for; consider: One must take account of the difficult circumstances. Taking account of the high overhead, the price is not excessive.
to notice or observe.

Also take into account.

turn to account, to derive profit or use from; turn to advantage: She has turned her misfortunes to account.

Origin of account

First recorded in 1225–75; (noun) Middle English a(c)ount(e), ac(c)ompte, from Anglo-French, Old French aco(u)nte, acompte; (verb) Middle English ac(co)unten, from Old French acunter, acompter.See ac-, count¹

synonym study for account

1. See narrative.

OTHER WORDS FROM account

pre·ac·count, verbsub·ac·count, nounun·ac·count·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for account

That information includes their name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, bank account information, and personal information of their dependents.
Saturday is the final deadline to get your CARES Act $1,200 stimulus check|Lance Lambert|November 20, 2020|Fortune
Ultimately, the products we choose to purchase account for a relatively small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Trying to shop sustainably? Here’s what you need to consider.|Sarah Kaplan|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Besides her accounts of travel, history and autobiography, she wrote two novels and biographical studies of Abraham Lincoln and British admiral John Fisher.
Jan Morris, artful travel writer who broke many boundaries, dies at 94|Matt Schudel|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Seeing he was not happy in school and that esports had put some money in their son’s bank account, his parents were on board and he made his first big decision in what would become his career.
The enduring and ongoing legacy of Bjergsen|Noah Smith|November 20, 2020|Washington Post

George whisks through news clippings and later secondhand accounts of what happened to illustrate how, for a brief time, John Glenn became the person a whole nation followed in space.
Another look at John Glenn through a heroic lens|Francis French|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
That year, landfill gas accounted for 9,800 gigawatts of electricity generation, up more than 90 percent from 2003.
Garbage In, Power Out|The Daily Beast|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Democrats won by 14 percent in the more urban areas, but these accounted for barely one-third of the total vote.
The Progressives’ War on Suburbia|Joel Kotkin|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 2012, when President Obama squared off against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Hispanics accounted for one in 10 voters.
Latinos Aren’t a ‘Cheap Date’ for Democrats Anymore|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|November 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In contrast, in 2010 Republicans accounted for a higher percentage (36 percent) and Democrats were two points lower at 47 percent.
In North Carolina, GOP Overreach May Be More Unpopular Than Obama|Dean Obeidallah|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And when support goes up, so do the earnings of the Zaitokukai—earnings that are poorly accounted for and go untaxed.
For Top Pols In Japan Crime Doesn’t Pay, But Hate Crime Does|Jake Adelstein, Angela Erika Kubo|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The manifest annoyance of her household was thus easily accounted for, but he marveled at the strength of her bodyguard.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
There you are wrong, Rupert, because it's obvious that if he is not Mr. Spurrell, his absence has to be accounted for in some way.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 107, November 3, 1894|Various
He that refused a pipe in company was accounted peevish and unsociable.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
He cursed himself inwardly for a fool and a dolt—the more pitiable because he accounted himself cunning above others.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
The man on the girl's right seemed to overlap her possessively which could have been accounted for by the width of his shoulders.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

British Dictionary definitions for account

account

/ (əˈkaʊnt) /

noun

a verbal or written report, description, or narration of some occurrence, event, etc

an explanation of conduct, esp one made to someone in authority

ground; basis; consideration (often in the phrases on this (that, every, no, etc) account, on account of)

importance, consequence, or valueof little account

assessment; judgment

profit or advantageto turn an idea to account

part or behalf (only in the phrase on one's or someone's account)

finance

a business relationship between a bank, department store, stockbroker, etc, and a depositor, customer, or client permitting the latter certain banking or credit services
the sum of money deposited at a bank
the amount of credit available to the holder of an account
a record of these

a statement of monetary transactions with the resulting balance

(on the London Stock Exchange) the period, ordinarily of a fortnight's duration, in which transactions formerly took place and at the end of which settlements were made

accounting a chronological list of debits and credits relating to a specified asset, liability, expense, or income of a business and forming part of the ledger

a regular client or customer, esp a firm that purchases commodities on credit
an area of business assigned to anotherthey transferred their publicity account to a new agent

call to account or bring to account

to insist on explanation
to rebuke; reprimand
to hold responsible

give a bad account of oneself to perform badlyhe gave a bad account of himself in the examination

give a good account of oneself to perform well

on account

on credit
Also: to account as partial payment

on account of (preposition) because of; by reason of

take account of or take into account to take into consideration; allow for

settle accounts with or square accounts with

to pay or receive a balance due
to get revenge on (someone)

See bank account, credit account

verb

(tr) to consider or reckonhe accounts himself poor

Word Origin for account

C13: from Old French acont, from conter, compter to count 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with account

account

In addition to the idiom beginning with account

account for

also see:

all present and accounted for
by all accounts
call to account
give a good account
no accounting for tastes
on account of
on no account
on one's own account
take account of
take into account
turn to good account

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