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

Software companies account for about one-third of the loans coming due in 2028 and 2029, in large part because private-equity funds binged on buyouts of the technology companies over the past decade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

So, when Goldman Sachs slashes its target for the Kospi benchmark index by 25%, investors will need to sit up and pay attention as semiconductor stocks account for almost one-fifth of the S&P 500.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

She had come seeking support and instead found herself being asked to account for her own supposed failure.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026

The team combined traditional paleontological techniques with machine learning models that account for evolutionary relationships.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 25, 2026

There’s nothing in her training as a vocalist that could account for such a high pitch.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

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