1
[ verb ] be the reason or explanation for

Examples

"The recession accounts for the slow retail business"

Used in print

(Rocky Mountains News, [Denver, Colorado],...)

Chuck_Hinton tripled to the rightfield corner , Cliff_Cook and Dan_Pavletich singled and Gaines ' infielder roller accounted_for the tallies .

Cliff_Cook accounted_for three of the Tribe 's eight hits .

(Tristram P. Coffin, "Folklore in the American Twentieth...)

Its folklore and legend , usually disguised as history , are allowed to account_for group_actions , to provide a focal_point for group loyalty , and to become a cohesive force for national identification .

(Frank Oppenheimer, "Science and Fear-- A Discussion...)

This and other fears of the solar_system have disappeared gradually , first , with the Ptolemaic_system and its built-in concept of periodicity and_then , more firmly , with the Newtonian innovation of an universal force that could account quantitatively for both terrestrial and celestial motions .

(Cornell H. Mayer, "Radio Emission of the Moon...)

Not all the observers have used the same procedures or made the same assumptions about the lunar brightness distribution when reducing the data , and this , together with differences in the methods of calibrating the antennae and receivers , must account_for much of the disagreement in the measured radio_brightness temperatures .

Related terms

be

2
[ verb ] give reasons for

Examples

"Can you account for all these absences?"

Used in print

(William G. Pollard, Physicist and Christian....)

It is not enough in accounting_for this feeling to analyze it into the wickedness of individual people added together to produce a cumulative effect .

For this does not account_for the integral , elemental power of that which grows with abounding vigor as the play unfolds , nor does it explain the strange numinous sense of presentness which comes over those who watch the play like a spell .

(James A. Ibers et al., "Proton magnetic resonance...)

However , **f adsorbs water from the atmosphere and this may account_for the low chromium analysis and high total weight loss .

(E. Gellhorn, "Prolegomena to a theory of the emotions"...)

Although we are still far from a complete understanding of these problems , as a first approximation , it is suggested that alterations in the hypothalamic balance with consequent changes in the hypothalamic cortical discharges account_for major changes in behavior seen in various moods and states of emotions in man and beast under physiological circumstances , in experimental and clinical neurosis , and as the result of psychopharmacological agents .

Related terms

explain

3
[ verb ] be the sole or primary factor in the existence, acquisition, supply, or disposal of something

Examples

"Passing grades account for half of the grades given in this exam"

Used in print

(Raymond C. Binder et al., editors, Proceedings...)

Temperatures of the shield and of the surface of the water_cooled anode holder were measured by thermocouples to account_for heat received by the coolant but not originating from the anode plug .

Related terms

be

4
[ verb ] furnish a justifying analysis or explanation

Synonyms

answer_for

Examples

"I can't account for the missing money"

Related terms

declare

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