account for (someone or something)

phrasal verb

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

1

: to show what happened to (someone or something) : know where (something or someone) is

We have to account for the time we spend on each activity.

The government couldn't account for millions of dollars of the taxpayers' money.

Is everyone accounted for?

2

: to destroy or kill (someone or something)

Enemy fighters have accounted for most of our bombers, Sir.

3

chiefly British : to defeat or beat (someone or something)

We accounted for the challengers 3–2.

Examples of account for (someone or something) in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front of you to account for sudden stops or changes in the traffic pattern. —Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 10 May 2025

All the predictions are essentially looking at the same orbital track of Cosmos 482 and then running different models that try to account for a number of variables like space weather, atmospheric conditions, the composition of the spacecraft and other factors. —Eric MacK, Forbes.com, 10 May 2025

Those countries account for the vast majority of U.S. foreign trade, Bessent said. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 9 May 2025

Then, adding fire to the fuel, during the Globes, the Instagram account for Max, home to her series Euphoria, seemingly confirmed the news with a post showing off the ring with a clip from the show. —Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 9 May 2025