call to account
Idioms-
Hold answerable, as in One day soon we'll be called to account for the child's behavior : [Mid-1500s]
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Challenge or contest, as in The IRS is bound to call us to account on these deductions . [First half of 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They don’t return for a bow, as if this had not been a performance but a call to account.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2021
“I mean, power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive,” Bush said, “and it’s important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2018
“Power can be very addictive, and it can be corrosive. And it’s important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 2, 2017
Mr Bush said: "Power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive, and it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power."
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2017
I had no pity for the man whom we had come to call to account, for, to my mind, treachery is the worst of crimes.
From Adventures in Southern Seas A Tale of the Sixteenth Century by George Forbes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
