account

 

• The priest listened to the old woman’s account of the death of her child with compassion.

 

• I’m going to keep a detailed account of my travels in India. I’m going to write a book when I get back.

 

• The diaries provide a full account of the writer’s experiences in prison.

 

• Do you think we should accept his account of events? Can we really trust him?

 

• The police only believed me after an eye-witness corroborated my account of the accident.

 

• There were a number of accounts of the assassination of President Kennedy which differ considerably from the official version of events.

 

• I didn’t know who to believe. The two witnesses gave conflicting accounts of the incident.

 

• We only wanted a brief account of the incident, but he insisted on giving us a blow-by-blow account of everything that had happened.

 

• Our new director gave a very clear account of his plans for the future of the company. They were well expressed and easy to understand.

 

• Her new biography gives a fascinating account of her travels in the jungles of Africa.

> Yes, it’s very interesting. There is a scary account of how she was almost killed by a tiger.

 

• The refugee gave such a graphic account of his torture that I thought I was going to be sick. How can human beings do such terrible things?

 

• The prime minister is expected to give a full account of his meeting with the President to Parliament this morning.

 

• I think last night’s programme was just what we needed. It was a faithful account of the events leading up to the plane crash.

 

• According to a (n) eye-witness account the robbers escaped in a blue car.

 

• She gave a hair-raising account of her escape from a pack of wild dogs in the Australian outback.

 

• The speaker gave us a humorous account of life at university. He had us all in fits of laughter.

 

• We only have a sketchy account of the accident at the moment. We can’t say if anybody has died.

 

• The book provides a (n) moving account of the suffering of ordinary people in war-torn Eritrea.

 

 

l. A ‘blow-by-blow account’ gives all the details, missing nothing out. Notice these similar examples.

He gave a comprehensive account of his movements on the day of the murder. It was a very detailed account.

 

2. If you experience something yourself, you can give a first-hand account or an eye-witness account.

 

3. When account means report, you can use glowing:

We were really proud. All our sons’ teachers gave glowing accounts of their progress.

 

4. The expression by all accounts means according to what people say.

For example: The mountain villages are really worth visiting, by all accounts.