an oral or written description of particular events or situations; narrative

an account of the meetings; an account of the trip.

an explanatory statement of conduct, as to a superior.

a statement of reasons, causes, etc., explaining some event.

reason; basis

On this account I'm refusing your offer.

importance; worth; value; consequence

things of no account.

estimation; judgment

In his account it was an excellent piece of work.

an amount of money deposited with a bank, as in a checking or savings account

My account is now with Third National.

Also called charge account. an accommodation or service extended by a business to a customer or client permitting the charging of goods or services, the returning for credit of unsatisfactory merchandise, etc.

Do you have an account at this store? My account with the restaurant is past due.

a statement of financial transactions.

Bookkeeping .

a formal record of the debits and credits relating to the person, business, etc., named at the head of the ledger account.

a balance of a specified period's receipts and expenditures.

Commerce .

a business relation in which credit is used.

any customer or client, esp. one carried on a regular credit basis.

Also called advertising account. the business assigned to an advertising agency by a client

The toothpaste account was awarded to a new agency last year.

to give an explanation (usually fol. by for )

to account for the accident.

to answer concerning one's conduct, duties, etc. (usually fol. by for )

to account for the missing typewriters.

to provide a report on money received, kept, and spent.

to cause (usually fol. by for )

The humidity accounts for our discomfort. His reckless driving accounted for the accident.

to regard; consider as

I account myself well paid.

to assign or impute (usually fol. by to )

the many virtues accounted to him.

call to account

to hold accountable; blame; reprimand

Call them to account for having endangered their lives.

ask for an explanation of.

give a good (bad, etc. ) account of, to do something or conduct oneself in a good (bad

etc.) manner

She gave a good account of herself in the tennis tournament.

hold to account

to hold responsible; hold accountable or culpable

If any of the silver is missing, I'm going to hold you to account.

on account

as an installment or a partial payment

I can't pay the balance, but here's

on account of

by reason of; because of.

for the sake of

She saw it through on account of me.

on all accounts, in any case; under any circumstances. Also

at all accounts.

on no account

under no circumstances; absolutely not

On no account should you buy that painting without having it appraised.

take account of

to make allowance for; consider

One must take account of the difficult circumstances. Taking account of the high overhead, the price is not excessive.

to notice or observe. Also, take into account.

turn to account

to derive profit or use from; turn to advantage

She has turned her misfortunes to account.

verb

clarify , resolve , elucidate , explain , justify , account