account for

/ɐkˈaʊnt fɔː/

/ɐkˈaʊnt fɔːɹ/

to account for

MAIN VERB

[phrase form: account]

to give a satisfactory explanation for something that happened or was done

to be the cause or reason of something

*** Constitute in amount or portion

*** Destroy or put out of action

Examples

1. Ministers should be called to account for their actions.

2. This, he says, accounts for developers fighting shy of putting money into the city.

3. All agents accounted for.

4. Present company accounted for.