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

However, Mach's explanation could not account for the reverse rotations and torques measured during the new experiments.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

Typically, lightning-caused fires account for 85% of the total area burned in a given year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

He also said the environmental review did not account for future water-thirsty projects in the desert area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

There are more than three million documented foreign nationals in South Africa, according to official figures, which does not account for those in the country illegally.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

And finally, and perhaps more obviously, he attacked Pythagoras’s scheme with the most self-evident of arguments: it could not possibly account for female anatomy.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee