account for

== English == === Pronunciation === (US) IPA(key): /əˈkaʊnt foɹ/ === Verb === account for (third-person singular simple present accounts for, present participle accounting for, simple past and past participle accounted for) (transitive) To explain by relating circumstances; to show that some one, thing or members of a group are present or have been processed. a. 1905, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Dancing Men”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes, W. R. Caldwell & Co. (1905), page 78: “ […] But there are still four cartridges in the revolver. Two have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for.” (transitive) To be the primary cause of (transitive) To constitute in amount or portion. (transitive) To make or render a reckoning of funds, persons, or things. (transitive) To be answerable for. (transitive) To destroy or put out of action. (transitive, dated) To kill, as in hunting. ==== Derived terms ==== there's no accounting for taste ==== Translations ====