Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - account

~1 n 1 »DESCRIPTION« a) a written or spoken description which gives details of an event  (There were several different accounts of the story in the newspapers.) give an ~  (David gave us a vivid account of his trip to Rio.) blow-by-blow ~ (=a description of the details of all an event in the order that they happened) eyewitness ~ (=a description of events by someone who saw them)  (an eyewitness account of the robbery) firsthand ~ (=a description of events by someone who saw or took part in them)  (her fascinating firsthand account of the Chinese Cultural Revolution) b) a detailed scientific description of a process which explains how it happens and what makes it possible  (Chomsky's account of how children learn their first language) 2 »AT A BANK« written abbreviation a/c an arrangement that you have with a bank to pay in or take out money  (My salary is paid directly into my bank account.) joint ~ (=one that is shared by two people)  (- see also bank ~, checking ~, current ~ount, deposit ~ount, profit and loss ~, savings ~) 3 take ~ of sth/take sth into ~ to consider or include particular facts or details when making a decision or judgment about something  (These figures do not take account of changes in the rate of inflation.) 4 on ~ of because of something else, especially because of a problem or difficulty  (He can't run very fast on account of his asthma.) 5 ~s a) an exact record of the money that a company has received and the money it has spent  (The accounts for last year showed a profit of $2 million.) b) a department in a company that is responsible for keeping these records  (Eileen works in accounts.) 6 on ~ if you buy goods on account, you take them away with you and pay for them later 7 »WITH A SHOP« an arrangement that you have with a shop which allows you to buy goods and pay for them later; credit ~  (Can you charge this to my account please?) 8 »BILL« a statement of money that you owe for things you have bought from a shop; bill pay/settle your ~ (=pay what you owe)  (Accounts must be settled within 30 days.) 9 »ARRANGEMENT TO SELL GOODS« an arrangement to sell goods and services to another company over a period of time  (Our Sales Manager has secured several big accounts recently.) 10 by/from all ~ according to what a lot of people say  (It's a very exciting film by all accounts.) 11 on my/his etc ~ if you do something on someone's account, you do it because you think they want you to  (Please don't leave on my account.) 12 on your own ~ by yourself or for yourself  (Carrie decided to do a little research on her own account.) 13 on no ~/not on any ~ used when saying that someone must not, for whatever reason, do something  (On no account must you tell him about our plans.) 14 by your own ~ according to what you have said, especially when you have admitted doing something wrong  (By his own account he was driving too fast.) 15 on that ~/on this ~ concerning a particular situation  (There needn't be any more worries on that account.) 16 give a good/poor ~ of yourself to do something or perform very well or very badly  (Kevin gave a good account of himself in today's game.) 17 bring/call sb to ~ formal to force someone who is responsible for a mistake or a crime to explain publicly why they did it and punish them for it if necessary  (The people responsible for the accident have never been brought to account.) 18 put/turn sth to good ~ formal to use something for a good purpose  (Perhaps she could put some of her talents to good account by helping us.) 19 of no ~/of little ~ formal not important  (Don't worry about what he said, it's of no account.) 20 of some ~ formal quite important ~2 v  ( @account for ~ for sth phr v 1 to be the reason why something happens  (Recent pressure at work may account for his behavior.) 2 to give a satisfactory explanation of why something has happened or why you did something  (How do you account for the sudden disappearance of the murder weapon?) 3 to make up a particular amount or part of something  (Imports from Japan accounted for 40% of the total.) 4 to say where all the members of a group of people or things are, especially because you are worried that some of them may be lost  (Is everyone accounted for?) 5 there's no ~ing for taste informal used when you find it difficult to understand why someone likes something or wants to do something @ )