account for

/əˈkaʊnt fɔr/
/əˈkaʊnt fɔ/
IPA guide

Other forms: accounted for; accounts for; accounting for

Definitions of account for
  1. verb
    be the reason or explanation for
    “The recession accounts for the slow retail business”
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    type of:
    be
    have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
  2. verb
    give reasons for
    “Can you account for all these absences?”
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    type of:
    explain, explicate
    make plain and comprehensible
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