account

ac‧count S1 W1 / əkaʊnt / 名词 [可数名词]

1 description a written or spoken description that says what happens in an event or process

account of

He was too shocked to give an account of what had happened.

blow-by-blow account (= a description of all the details of an event in the order that they happened )

a blow-by-blow account of how England lost to Portugal

Chomsky’s account of how children learn their first language

eye-witness/first-hand account (= a description of events by someone who saw them )

Eye-witness accounts told of the unprovoked shooting of civilians.

This gives a first-hand account of the war.

2 at a bank ( written abbreviation a/c or acct. ) an arrangement in which a bank keeps your money safe so that you can pay more in or take money out :

My salary is paid into my bank account.

I’ve opened an account with Barclay’s Bank.

My husband and I have a joint account (= one that is shared between two people ) . → bank account , checking account , current account , deposit account , profit and loss account , savings account

3 take account of something ( also take something into account ) 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 account of something because of something else, especially a problem or difficulty :

She was told to wear flat shoes, on account of her back problem.

5 accounts

a) [复数形式] 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) [不可数名词] a department in a company that is responsible for keeping records of the amount of money spent and received :

Eileen works in accounts.

6 on account if you buy goods on account, you take them away with you and pay for them later

7 with a shop/company an arrangement that you have with a shop or company, which allows you to buy goods or use a service now and pay for them later 同义词 credit account :

Can you charge this to my account please?

an unlimited-use Internet account

8 bill a statement that shows how much money you owe for things you have bought from a shop 同义词 bill

pay/settle your account (= pay what you owe )

James left the restaurant, settling his account by credit card.

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 accounts according to what a lot of people say :

It has, from all accounts, been a successful marriage.

11 on sb’s account if you do something on someone’s account, you do it because you think they want you to :

Please don’t change your plans on my account.

12 on your own account by yourself or for yourself :

Carrie decided to do a little research on her own account.

13 on no account/not on any account used when saying that someone must not, for any reason, do something :

On no account must you disturb me.

14 by sb’s own account according to what you have said, especially when you have admitted doing something wrong :

Bentley was, by his own account, over-sensitive to criticism.

15 on that account/on this account concerning a particular situation :

There needn’t be any more worries on that account.

16 give a good/poor account 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 somebody to account 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 something to good account 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/little account formal not important :

As she grew up, her father was of no account to her.

COLLOCATIONS

动词

give an account Marshall gave the police his account of how the fight started.

provide an account Freud has provided an account of the human psyche’s stages of development.

write an account He later wrote an account of his experiences during the war.

read an account Have you read his account of the journey?

ADJECTIVES/NOUN + account

a detailed account She gave me a detailed account of what happened at the meeting.

a full account It is not possible to give a full account of what we discussed.

a short account What follows is a short account of the legal procedure.

a brief account The class were asked to write a brief account of their holidays.

a clear account I’ve tried to write a clear account of the incident.

an accurate account Both newspapers gave fairly accurate accounts of what had happened.

a true account The book is a true account of his life and death.

a blow-by-blow account (= very detailed ) Rosemary gave me a blow-by-blow account of their trip.

a graphic account (= very clear with a lot of details, especially unpleasant details ) He wrote a graphic account of his time in jail.

a vivid account (= so clear that it seems real or like real life ) I read a vivid account of his experiences in Egypt.

an eye-witness account (= an account of an event, given by the person who saw it happen ) an eye-witness account of the attack

a first-hand account (= an account of a situation, given by the person who experienced it ) a first-hand account of life in the refugee camps

conflicting accounts (= different accounts of the same event, that cannot both be true ) There were conflicting accounts of what actually happened.

THESAURUS

account a written or spoken description that says what happens in an event or process : He provided the police with a detailed account of what he saw.

description something you say or write that gives details about what something or someone is like : The report gave a brief description of the problem.

story an account of something that has happened which may not be true – used especially when people are telling each other about something : I don’t think he was honest enough to tell us the full story. | Her parents did not believe her story.

report a written or spoken account of a situation or event, giving people the information they need, especially after studying something as part of your job : The UN will issue a report on the incident. | Initial police reports suggest she was murdered.

version a particular person’s account of an event, which is different from the account that another person gives : Her version of events has been contradicted by other witnesses.

account S3 W2 动词 #

account for something phrasal verb 1 to form a particular amount or part of something :
Afro-Americans account for 12% of the US population. 2 to be the reason why something happens SYN explain :
Recent pressure at work may account for his behavior. 3 to give a satisfactory explanation of why something has happened or why you did something SYN explain :
Can you account for your movements on that night? 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 :
Three days after the earthquake, more than 150 people had still to be accounted for.