a description of events or situations:[countable]an eyewitness account.
Business[countable] an amount of money deposited with a bank: a savings account.
Business a statement or record of financial transactions:[countable]The accounts show us to be in trouble.
Business a formal record of how much is owed to a particular person, business, etc:[countable]He hasn't settled his account yet.
Business a business relation in which credit is used:[uncountable]He bought the clothes on account.
v.[~ + for + object]
to give an explanation for:Can you account for your fingerprints on the gun?
to be the cause or source of: The New York market accounts for a lot of our sales.
Idioms
Idiomscall to account, [ call + obj + to + ~]
to hold accountable; blame.
to ask for an explanation of.
Idiomshold to account, [ hold + obj + to + ~] to consider responsible and answerable:held the treasurer to account for the loss.
Idiomson account of, because of: The game was postponed on account of rain.
Idiomson no account, absolutely not:On no account should you hesitate to call on us.
Idiomson someone's account, for the sake of someone:Don't do it on my account.
take account of, [ ~ + obj] to consider; make allowance for:took account of the chance of rain.
take into account, to take into consideration: [ take + into + ~ + obj]:didn't take into account the cost of the project.[ take + obj + into + ~]:took it into account.
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.
Businessan amount of money deposited with a bank, as in a checking or savings account:My account is now with Third National.
BusinessAlso 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.
Businessa statement of financial transactions.
Business[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.
[Com.]
Businessa business relation in which credit is used.
Businessany customer or client, esp. one carried on a regular credit basis.
BusinessAlso called advertising account. the business assigned to an advertising agency by a client:The toothpaste account was awarded to a new agency last year.
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, etc.) 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.
Businesson 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.
v.i.
to give an explanation (usually fol. by for):to account for the accident.
to answer concerning one's conduct, duties, etc. (usually fol. by for):to account for the missing typewriters.
to provide a report on money received, kept, and spent.
to cause (usually fol. by for):The humidity accounts for our discomfort. His reckless driving accounted for the accident.
v.t.
to regard; consider as:I account myself well paid.
to assign or impute (usually fol. by to):the many virtues accounted to him.
Old French acunter,acompter. See ac-, count1
Anglo-French, Old French aco(u)nte, acompte; (verb, verbal) Middle English ac(co)unten
(noun, nominal) Middle English a(c)ount(e), ac(c)ompte 1225–75
1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged report, chronicle. See narrative.
2.See corresponding entry in Unabridged justification.
5.See corresponding entry in Unabridged import, significance.
6.See corresponding entry in Unabridged consideration.
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 value: of little account
assessment; judgment
profit or advantage: to turn an idea to account
part or behalf (only in the phrase on one'sorsomeone's account)
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
a regular client or customer, esp a firm that purchases commodities on credit
an area of business assigned to another: they transferred their publicity account to a new agent
call to account, bring to account ⇒ to insist on explanation
to rebuke; reprimand
to hold responsible
give a bad account of oneself ⇒ to perform badly: he gave a bad account of himself in the examination
give a good account of oneself ⇒ to perform well
on account ⇒ on credit
Also:to accountas partial payment
on account of ⇒ (preposition)because of; by reason of
take account of, take into account ⇒ to take into consideration; allow for
settle accounts with, square accounts with ⇒ to pay or receive a balance due