responsibility
Duty to deal with something
The need to do something because it is your job or role.
[someone] has responsibility for [something]
- As team leader, she has responsibility for organizing the project.
- Parents have a responsibility to care for their children.
- He refused to take responsibility for the mistake.
- The committee shares responsibility for the decision.
- I accept full responsibility for my actions.
- She has responsibility for the shop.
- Parents have a responsibility to feed their children.
- I take responsibility for the work.
- He has responsibility for cleaning the room.
- We share responsibility for the event.
Thing one must manage
A thing that you must take care of or manage.
[someone]'s responsibility is [something]
- My main responsibility is managing the budget.
- Looking after the garden is his responsibility.
- Her responsibilities include answering phone calls and scheduling meetings.
- One of my responsibilities is training new staff.
- The teacher's responsibilities go beyond just teaching lessons.
- My responsibility is to clean the room.
- His responsibility is to write emails.
- Her responsibilities include cooking and cleaning.
- The dog's care is my responsibility.
- One responsibility is to help customers.
Blame or credit for result
Being the person who made something happen, so people think it is your fault or your success.
[someone] takes responsibility for [something] happening
- The company accepted responsibility for the accident.
- No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
- He denied any responsibility for the error.
- She took full responsibility for the failure.
- Responsibility for the mistake lies with the management.
- I take responsibility for the mistake.
- She claimed responsibility for the idea.
- They denied responsibility for the problem.
- He takes responsibility when things go wrong.
- The driver accepted responsibility for the crash.
Quality of being dependable
The ability to act in a way that shows you can be trusted and will do what is right.
- Her sense of responsibility makes her a great leader.
- We try to teach children about responsibility from an early age.
- He showed great responsibility by reporting the problem immediately.
- Responsibility is an important quality in any employee.
- She has a strong sense of responsibility.
- We teach children about responsibility.
- He showed responsibility when he helped his friend.
- Responsibility is important at work.
- Base: responsibility
- Plural: responsibilities, responsibility
bear responsibility
1Carry duty or blame
To have to deal with a duty or be blamed for something, especially in a serious way.
- Parents bear great responsibility for their children's safety.
- The board bears ultimate responsibility for company decisions.
claim responsibility
1Say you caused something bad/good
To say that you did something, often something bad like an attack.
- A rebel group claimed responsibility for the bombing.
- No one has claimed responsibility yet.
shift responsibility (onto)
1Pass duty or blame to others
To put your duty or blame on another person instead of yourself.
- He tried to shift responsibility onto his colleague.
- Don't shift your responsibilities onto me.
take responsibility for
1Accept duty or blame
To agree that you must deal with something or that it is your fault.
- He took responsibility for fixing the mistake.
- You need to take responsibility for your own actions.
accept responsibility
1Agree to be accountable for something
To say you will take blame or duty for something you did or must do.
- He accepted responsibility for breaking the window.
- The minister accepted responsibility for the policy failure.
- The company accepted responsibility for the product defect.
- She accepted responsibility without hesitation.