responsibility

responsibilitynoun

Responsibility is either the duty to deal with something and be blamed if it goes wrong, or one particular duty that belongs to a job or role.

1. duty or blamethe state of being the person who must deal with something, and who will be blamed if it goes wrong

   uncountable [U]

   • Parents have a responsibility to protect their children.
   • He refused to take responsibility for the accident.
   • The company accepted responsibility for the delay.
   • With more freedom comes more responsibility.

   Collocations

   verb + noun take responsibility, accept responsibility, deny responsibility

   noun + preposition responsibility for, responsibility to

   adjective + noun full responsibility, personal responsibility

2. a dutya duty that is part of someone's job or role

   countable [C]

   • Answering the phone is one of her responsibilities.
   • His new job comes with a lot of responsibilities.
   • It's not my responsibility to fix the printer.
   • Cleaning the kitchen is everyone's responsibility.

   Collocations

   verb + noun have a responsibility, share responsibilities

   adjective + noun main responsibility, key responsibilities, daily responsibilities