account for (something)

phrasal verb

accounted for (something); accounting for (something); accounts for (something)

1

: to give a reason or explanation for (something)

How do you account for your success?

2

: to be the cause of (something)

These new features account for the computer's higher price.

3

: to make up or form (a part of something)

Women account for only 25 percent of our employees.

4

US : to think about (something) before doing something : to take (something) into consideration

The researchers failed to account for the fact that most of the students were poor.

Examples of account for (something) in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Blood is a plentiful source of protein-building amino acids, but those typically only account for around 10% of the fuel used by mammals during exercise. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 7 Nov. 2024

One way to do this is to set up a separate bank account for client funds. —Vlad Rusz, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Selzer is known for being far less willing to account for potential distortions such as response bias. —Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2024

The three states account for 44 electoral votes, a large chunk of the 93 electoral votes that the seven battleground states make up. —Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024