I. ac ‧ count 1 S1 W1 /əˈkaʊnt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . DESCRIPTION a written or spoken description that says what happens in an event or process
account of
He was too shocked to give an account of what had happened.
blow-by-blow account (=a description of all the details of an event in the order that they happened)
a blow-by-blow account of how England lost to Portugal
Chomsky’s account of how children learn their first language
eye-witness/first-hand account (=a description of events by someone who saw them)
Eye-witness accounts told of the unprovoked shooting of civilians.
This gives a first-hand account of the war.
2 . AT A BANK ( written abbreviation a/c or acct. ) an arrangement in which a bank keeps your money safe so that you can pay more in or take money out:
My salary is paid into my bank account.
I’ve opened an account with Barclay’s Bank.
My husband and I have a joint account (=one that is shared between two people) .
⇨ ↑ bank account , ↑ checking account , ↑ current account , ↑ deposit account , ↑ profit and loss account , ↑ savings account
3 . take account of something ( also take something into account ) to consider or include particular facts or details when making a decision or judgment about something:
These figures do not take account of changes in the rate of inflation.
4 . on account of something because of something else, especially a problem or difficulty:
She was told to wear flat shoes, on account of her back problem.
5 . accounts
a) [plural] an exact record of the money that a company has received and the money it has spent:
The accounts for last year showed a profit of $2 million.
b) [uncountable] a department in a company that is responsible for keeping records of the amount of money spent and received:
Eileen works in accounts.
6 . on account if you buy goods on account, you take them away with you and pay for them later
7 . WITH A SHOP/COMPANY an arrangement that you have with a shop or company, which allows you to buy goods or use a service now and pay for them later SYN credit account :
Can you charge this to my account please?
an unlimited-use Internet account
8 . BILL a statement that shows how much money you owe for things you have bought from a shop SYN bill
pay/settle your account (=pay what you owe)
James left the restaurant, settling his account by credit card.
9 . ARRANGEMENT TO SELL GOODS an arrangement to sell goods and services to another company over a period of time:
Our sales manager has secured several big accounts recently.
10 . by/from all accounts according to what a lot of people say:
It has, from all accounts, been a successful marriage.
11 . on sb’s account if you do something on someone’s account, you do it because you think they want you to:
Please don’t change your plans on my account.
12 . on your own account by yourself or for yourself:
Carrie decided to do a little research on her own account.
13 . on no account/not on any account used when saying that someone must not, for any reason, do something:
On no account must you disturb me.
14 . by sb’s own account according to what you have said, especially when you have admitted doing something wrong:
Bentley was, by his own account, over-sensitive to criticism.
15 . on that account/on this account concerning a particular situation:
There needn’t be any more worries on that account.
16 . give a good/poor account of yourself to do something or perform very well or very badly:
Kevin gave a good account of himself in today’s game.
17 . bring/call somebody to account formal to force someone who is responsible for a mistake or a crime to explain publicly why they did it and punish them for it if necessary:
The people responsible for the accident have never been brought to account.
18 . put/turn something to good account formal to use something for a good purpose:
Perhaps she could put some of her talents to good account by helping us.
19 . of no/little account formal not important:
As she grew up, her father was of no account to her.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ give an account
Marshall gave the police his account of how the fight started.
▪ provide an account
Freud has provided an account of the human psyche’s stages of development.
▪ write an account
He later wrote an account of his experiences during the war.
▪ read an account
Have you read his account of the journey?
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + account
▪ a detailed account
She gave me a detailed account of what happened at the meeting.
▪ a full account
It is not possible to give a full account of what we discussed.
▪ a short account
What follows is a short account of the legal procedure.
▪ a brief account
The class were asked to write a brief account of their holidays.
▪ a clear account
I’ve tried to write a clear account of the incident.
▪ an accurate account
Both newspapers gave fairly accurate accounts of what had happened.
▪ a true account
The book is a true account of his life and death.
▪ a blow-by-blow account (=very detailed)
Rosemary gave me a blow-by-blow account of their trip.
▪ a graphic account (=very clear with a lot of details, especially unpleasant details)
He wrote a graphic account of his time in jail.
▪ a vivid account (=so clear that it seems real or like real life)
I read a vivid account of his experiences in Egypt.
▪ an eye-witness account (=an account of an event, given by the person who saw it happen)
an eye-witness account of the attack
▪ a first-hand account (=an account of a situation, given by the person who experienced it)
a first-hand account of life in the refugee camps
▪ conflicting accounts (=different accounts of the same event, that cannot both be true)
There were conflicting accounts of what actually happened.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ account a written or spoken description that says what happens in an event or process:
He provided the police with a detailed account of what he saw.
▪ description something you say or write that gives details about what something or someone is like:
The report gave a brief description of the problem.
▪ story an account of something that has happened which may not be true – used especially when people are telling each other about something:
I don’t think he was honest enough to tell us the full story.
|
Her parents did not believe her story.
▪ report a written or spoken account of a situation or event, giving people the information they need, especially after studying something as part of your job:
The UN will issue a report on the incident.
|
Initial police reports suggest she was murdered.
▪ version a particular person’s account of an event, which is different from the account that another person gives:
Her version of events has been contradicted by other witnesses.
II. account 2 S3 W2 BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: acompter , from compter 'to count' ]
account for something phrasal verb
1 . to form a particular amount or part of something:
Afro-Americans account for 12% of the US population.
2 . to be the reason why something happens SYN explain :
Recent pressure at work may account for his behavior.
3 . to give a satisfactory explanation of why something has happened or why you did something SYN explain :
Can you account for your movements on that night?
4 . to say where all the members of a group of people or things are, especially because you are worried that some of them may be lost:
Three days after the earthquake, more than 150 people had still to be accounted for.