Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb account_for

2 senses of account for

Sense 1
account for -- (be the reason or explanation for; "The recession accounts for the slow retail business")
       => be -- (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer")

Sense 2
account for -- (give reasons for; "Can you account for all these absences?")
       => explain, explicate -- (make plain and comprehensible; "He explained the laws of physics to his students")