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all present and accounted for

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All members or items of a group are here or their whereabouts are known, as in Is everyone ready to board the bus?—All present and accounted for. This expression almost certainly originated in the armed forces as a response to roll call. By proper logic, the and should be or. Nevertheless, the expression is used colloquially to offer assurance that no person or thing is missing.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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