ACCOUNT | Meaning, Definition In Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of account in English accountnoun uk /əˈkaʊnt/ us /əˈkaʊnt/

account noun (BANK)

Add to word list Add to word list B1 [ C ] (also bank account) an arrangement with a bank to keep your money there and to allow you to take it out when you need to: close an account I withdrew my money and asked the bank to close my account. open an account I've opened an account with a building society . I paid the money into my account this morning.UK She paid the cheque into her account.US She deposited the check in/into her account. I need to withdraw some money from my account. an account
  • accountThe company's accounts show a loss in the first quarter.
  • the booksI let our accountant do the books.
  • bank statementI receive a monthly bank statement.
  • statementThe bank sends me a statement every month.
See more results »
  • I was relieved to see from my statement that my account was in credit.
  • I closed that bank account when I came to London.
  • The account was in debit at the end of the month.
  • To open an account, you need to make a minimum deposit of $500.
  • Alison drew some money out of her account to pay for our trip.
Banks
  • account balance
  • anti-city
  • apex
  • bank
  • bank details
  • banker
  • bureau de change
  • cash
  • lend
  • lender
  • non-negotiable
  • online bank
  • online banking
  • open an account
  • overdraft facility
  • pin
  • savings bank
  • sort code
  • the Federal Reserve
  • trust
See more results »

account noun (REPORT)

B2 [ C ] a written or spoken description or record of an event: give an account of She gave a thrilling account of her life in the jungle.keep an account of He kept a detailed account of the suspect's movements. Several eyewitnesses' accounts differed considerably from the official version of events. by/from all accounts C1 as said by most people: By all accounts, San Francisco is a city that's easy to fall in love with. See more by your own account If something is true by your own account, what you say is true although you have not proved it: By his own account, he's quite wealthy. See more
  • She gave a clear, factual account of the attack.
  • The book is a work of fiction and not intended as a historical account.
  • The foregoing account was written 50 years after the incident.
  • She gave a hair-raising account of her escape through the desert.
  • She gave a clear and lucid account of her plans for the company's future.
Defining & explaining
  • account (to someone) for something phrasal verb
  • accountability
  • adumbration
  • annotation
  • annotator
  • argue
  • demythologize
  • excuse
  • give someone to understand (that) phrase
  • go over phrasal verb
  • have explaining to do
  • histography
  • indefinably
  • sketch
  • spell
  • undescribable
  • viz.
  • walk
  • walk through something phrasal verb
  • what is he, are they, etc. like? idiom
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Accounts and stories

account noun (REASON)

on account of something formal B2 because of something: He doesn't drink alcohol on account of his poor health. See more

account noun (BUSINESS)

[ C ] an agreement with a shop or business that allows you to buy things and pay for them later: Could you put it on/charge it to my account (= can I pay for it later), please? Do you have an account at this store/with us, madam? settle an account Could you please settle your account in full (= give us all the money you owe us)? [ C ] a customer who does business with a company: If the advertising agency loses this account, it will make a big dent in their profits. Saving money
  • bank
  • deposit account
  • deposit something with someone
  • depositor
  • direct deposit
  • interest rate
  • on deposit idiom
  • pension plan
  • put
  • put something aside phrasal verb
  • put something by phrasal verb
  • redeposit
  • retirement plan
  • salt
  • salt something away phrasal verb
  • squirrel
  • squirrel something away phrasal verb
  • TESSA
  • undersaver
  • war chest
See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Banks Renting & hiring Accounting

account noun (INTERNET)

[ C ] an arrangement to use a social media website or internet service by a particular person who gives their name and some personal details: I decided to delete my account. She thought that her Instagram account had been hacked.
  • Do you have a Spotify account?
  • Enter your email address and a password to register your account.
  • He has a Twitter account under the name "WiseGuy1000".
Internet terminology
  • 2FA
  • 2SV
  • above/below the fold idiom
  • address bar
  • affiliate link
  • flame
  • fold
  • in-app
  • inbox
  • incel
  • infopreneur
  • information superhighway
  • newbie
  • store
  • streamer
  • streaming platform
  • streaming service
  • subsite
  • VoIP
  • weblog
See more results »

account noun (IMPORTANCE)

be of no/little account formal to not be important: It's of no account to me whether he comes or not. See more

Idioms

be brought/called to account hold someone to account on someone's account on no account take something into account turn/use something to good account accountverb [ T + obj + noun/adj ]   formal uk /əˈkaʊnt/ us /əˈkaʊnt/

account verb [T + obj + noun/adj ] (JUDGE)

to think of someone or something in the stated way: She was accounted a genius by all who knew her work. Synonym judge Analysing and evaluating
  • adjudication
  • analysable
  • analyse
  • analyser
  • analyst
  • appraise
  • calculus
  • dissect
  • have the measure of someone/something idiom
  • inquest
  • inspect
  • inspection
  • interpret something as something
  • interpretable
  • parse
  • reattribute
  • reattribution
  • regrade
  • reinspect
  • reinspection
See more results »

Idiom

there's no accounting for taste

Phrasal verbs

account (to someone) for something account for something (Definition of account from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

account | American Dictionary

accountnoun [ C ] us /əˈkɑʊnt/

account noun [C] (FINANCIAL SERVICE)

Add to word list Add to word list money kept in a bank or other organization that you can add to or take back An account is also an arrangement with a store or a company that allows you to buy things and pay for them later:

account noun [C] (REPORT)

a written or spoken description of an event

Idioms

on someone’s account on account of something (Definition of account from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

account | Business English

accountnoun [ C ] uk /əˈkaʊnt/ us Add to word list Add to word list BANKING   (also bank account); ( written abbreviation a/c); (also acct.) an arrangement with a bank in which the customer puts in and takes out money and the bank keeps a record of it: close/open an account When she starts school we're opening an account in her name and we'll put money into it each year.deposit/pay money into an account Anna could deposit her savings into an account offering more interest.an account with sth She applied for the card soon after opening an account with the bank.joint/separate account It's better to have separate accounts and feed money into a joint account for shared bills. a checking/cheque/current accountbusiness/personal account Each month I transfer money from my business account to my personal account. a deposit/savings account FINANCE   (also UK credit account); (also US charge account) an agreement with a store or company that allows you to buy things and pay for them later: open an account with sth If you open an account with the store you save 10%.charge sth to an account Jenny got the bill and said she'd charge it to the company account. ACCOUNTING a record of money received, spent, or owed: An account of travel expenses incurred by an employee must be submitted for reimbursement together with receipts. MARKETING a customer who does business regularly with a company: lose/win an account The company has won a batch of high-profile advertising accounts IT an agreement with a company that allows you to use the internet and email, and gives you space on the internet to put your documents: Some people have a specific service in mind, whether it's an account with free Web space or the ability to develop an electronic commerce site online. on account to be paid for at a later time: $25,000 in inventory was purchased on account from suppliers in July. paid as part of the total amount owed: Part is paid on account, and the rest is paid at the end of the period.

See also

adjustment account appropriation account balance of payments capital account balance of payments current account bank account call account cash account cash management account charge account client account club account consignment account contra account control account credit account current account custodial account debit account demand account deposit account depreciation account discretionary account dormant account drawing account email account entertainment account Exchange Equalization Account expense account external account foreign currency account inactive account income and expenditure account individual retirement account instant access account joint account loro account margin account merchant account nostro account notice account NOW account numbered account postal account profit-and-loss account public account purchases account sales account sales returns account savings account sundries account suspense account trust account vostro account (Definition of account from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of account

account However, philosophers do think that our notion of wellbeing permits the rich account of the priority view that they offer. From the Cambridge English Corpus When planning a mapping, one must take this into account: an instrument is interesting only if it allows the discovery of unknown features. From the Cambridge English Corpus The author is quick to point out, however, that the models reviewed do not account for all error data. From the Cambridge English Corpus Rice and wheat account for nearly 75% of the total food grains produced. From the Cambridge English Corpus Importantly, this step systematically accounts for variation across the m analyses due to missing data in addition to ordinary sample variation. From the Cambridge English Corpus Five organic components and the presence of amorphous organic matter were taken into account in the palynofacies analysis. From the Cambridge English Corpus His contribution contains the most detailed phonetic analysis, taking into account not only prosodic features but segmental characteristics as well. From the Cambridge English Corpus In essence, structural accounts of nucleus complexity need not only refer to phonetic length. From the Cambridge English Corpus Yet the attempt to account for the value of happiness in purely hedonic terms seems to miss something. From the Cambridge English Corpus Instead, the person seeking self-insight must employ a priori causal theories to account for his or her own psychological operations. From the Cambridge English Corpus The regular pattern of alternating long and short syllables, which is reversed only in the middle, accounts for the measured pace of both poems. From the Cambridge English Corpus Our own compendium takes these into account, adding several revisions and new identifications. From the Cambridge English Corpus For convenience of description, the right ventricle will be accounted for in terms of its three regions. From the Cambridge English Corpus This account of the developmental differences is consistent with other studies of children's lexical and phonological representations. From the Cambridge English Corpus Under this account, if children's lexical representations are stored as sub-units, they are then able to access more stable units with increased accuracy. From the Cambridge English Corpus See all examples of account These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with account

account

These are words often used in combination with account.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

account holderHowever, the permission of the account holder must also be obtained before accounts can be debited. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 accurate accountAs it stands, the study offers a descriptive but accurate account. From the Cambridge English Corpus adequate accountAdamastor seems incapable of providing an adequate account of his life and purpose. From the Cambridge English Corpus These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. See all collocations with account What is the pronunciation of account?

Translations of account

in Chinese (Traditional) 銀行, 帳戶,戶口, 報告… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 银行, 账户,户头, 报告… See more in Spanish cuenta, versión, relato… See more in Portuguese conta, versão, relato… See more in Marathi in Japanese in Turkish in French in Catalan in Dutch in Tamil in Hindi in Gujarati in Danish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Urdu in Ukrainian in Telugu in Bengali in Czech in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Korean in Italian बॅंकेतील खाते ज्यामधे तुम्ही पैसे जमा करू शकता किंवा तुमच्या गरजेच्यावेळी काढू शकता, वृत्तांत, लेखाजोखा… See more 銀行口座, 説明, 詳細… See more olup bitenlerin sözlü ya da yazılı açıklaması, banka hesabı, şirket ya da mağazalarla yapılan vadeli alışveriş sözleşmesi… See more compte-rendu [masculine], compte [masculine], représenter… See more compte, versió, relat… See more rekening, factuur, verslag… See more உங்கள் பணத்தை அங்கேயே வைத்திருக்கவும், உங்களுக்குத் தேவைப்படும்போது அதை வெளியே எடுக்க அனுமதிக்கும் ஒரு வங்கியுடனான ஒரு ஏற்பாடு, ஒரு நிகழ்வின் எழுதப்பட்ட அல்லது பேசும் விளக்கம்… See more बैंक का खाता, विवरण, ब्यौरा… See more ખાતું, હિસાબ, વર્ણન… See more konto, afregning, beretning… See more räkning, räkenskaper, konto… See more akaun, penyata, laporan… See more die Rechnung, Geschaftsbücher, das Konto… See more redegjørelse [masculine], konto [masculine], regning [masculine]… See more کھاتہ, اکاؤنٹ, تفصیل… See more рахунок, звіт, розрахунок… See more బ్యాంకు అక్కౌంట్, ఒక బ్యాంకులో మీ డబ్బును అక్కడ ఉంచడానికి మరియు మీకు అవసరమైనప్పుడు దాన్ని బయటకు తీయడానికి మిమ్మల్ని అనుమతించడానికి వారితో ఏర్పాటు, ఒక సంఘటన గురించి రాసి లేక చెప్తూ చేసిన వివరణ… See more অ্যাকাউন্ট, একটি ইভেন্টের লিখিত বা কথ্য বিবরণ… See more účet, konto, popis… See more tagihan, rekening, catatan keluar-masuk uang… See more บัญชีเงินฝาก, รายการบัญชี, คำอธิบาย… See more tài khoản, bản kê khai, sự miêu tả… See more relacja, konto, rachunek… See more 계좌, (지나간 일에 대한) 설명… See more conto, resoconto, contabilità… See more Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool

Browse

accordionist accost accosted accosting account account (to someone) for something phrasal verb account balance account books account executive {{#randomImageQuizHook.filename}} {{#randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes Try a quiz now {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{^randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.isQuiz}} {{/randomImageQuizHook.filename}}

More meanings of account

  • bank account
  • charge account
  • checking account
  • expense account
  • savings account
  • T-account
  • no-account
See all meanings
  • account for something phrasal verb
  • account for sth phrasal verb
  • account (to someone) for something phrasal verb
See all phrasal verb meanings
  • on account of something idiom
  • on someone’s account idiom
  • by your own account phrase
  • on account of something phrase
  • on someone's account idiom
  • on no account idiom
  • be of no/little account phrase
See all idioms and phrases

Word of the Day

forfeit

UK /ˈfɔː.fɪt/ US /ˈfɔːr.fɪt/

to decide not to play a sports game or part of a game, or to let the other side win

About this

Blog

I need to ask you a favour: signalling what we are going to say

January 21, 2026 Read More

New Words

analogue bag January 19, 2026 More new words has been added to list To top AI icon AI Assistant Contents EnglishAmericanBusinessExamplesCollocationsTranslations AI icon AI Assistant {{#displayLoginPopup}} Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Sign up for free and get access to exclusive content: Free word lists and quizzes from Cambridge Tools to create your own word lists and quizzes Word lists shared by our community of dictionary fans Sign up now or Log in Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Learn more with +Plus

Create word lists and quizzes for free Sign up now or Log in {{/displayLoginPopup}} {{#displayClassicSurvey}} {{/displayClassicSurvey}}
  • Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
  • My profile
  • +Plus help
  • Log out
AI Assistant Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English Translations Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English English–Danish Danish–English English–Dutch Dutch–English English–French French–English English–German German–English English–Indonesian Indonesian–English English–Italian Italian–English English–Japanese Japanese–English English–Norwegian Norwegian–English English–Polish Polish–English English–Portuguese Portuguese–English English–Spanish Spanish–English English–Swedish Swedish–English Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese Translate Grammar Thesaurus Pronunciation Cambridge Dictionary +Plus Games {{userName}}
  • Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
  • My profile
  • +Plus help
  • Log out
Log in / Sign up English (UK) Change English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Follow us Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
  • Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
  • Translation Click on the arrows to change the translation direction. Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Danish Danish–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus Word Lists
Choose your language English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी Contents
  • English   
    • Noun 
      • account (BANK)
      • account (REPORT)
      • by/from all accounts
      • by your own account
      • account (REASON)
      • on account of something
      • account (BUSINESS)
      • account (INTERNET)
      • account (IMPORTANCE)
      • be of no/little account
    • Verb 
      • account (JUDGE)
  • American   
    • Noun 
      • account (FINANCIAL SERVICE)
      • account (REPORT)
  • Business   
    • Noun 
      • account
      • on account
  • Examples
  • Collocations
  • Translations
  • Grammar
  • All translations
My word lists

To add account to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in My word lists

Add account to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{name}} More Go to your word lists {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

Something went wrong.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} Tell us about this example sentence: The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}} The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. The sentence contains offensive content. Cancel Submit Thanks! Your feedback will be reviewed. {{#verifyErrors}}

{{message}}

{{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{#message}}

{{message}}

{{/message}} {{^message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

{{/message}} {{/verifyErrors}}

Tag » How Do You Spell Account