responsibility

re|spon|si|bil|i|ty [ rı,spansə`bıləti ] noun ***

1. ) uncount the state or job of being in charge of someone or something and of making sure that what they do or what happens to them is right or satisfactory:

She has a lot of responsibility in her job.

responsibility for: Overall responsibility for the school lies with the principal.

have responsibility for (doing) something: You will have overall responsibility for sales and marketing.

take responsibility for (doing) something: Would someone take responsibility for bringing Paul home?

assume responsibility for (doing) something: Serrano immediately assumed temporary responsibility for foreign affairs.

a position of responsibility: People in positions of responsibility cannot behave like this.

a ) count a duty that you have to do because it is part of your job or position:

She is my responsibility, now that her parents are gone.

a responsibility to do something: It is your responsibility to provide us with concrete evidence.

b ) count or uncount a moral duty to behave in a particular way:

responsibility to/toward: What is the individual's responsibility to others in modern society?

have a responsibility to/toward someone: We have a responsibility to our shareholders and to our depositors.

have a responsibility to do something: We have a responsibility to make sure this never happens again.

a sense of responsibility: Parenthood brings a huge sense of responsibility.

2. ) uncount blame for something that has happened:

claim/accept responsibility for something: No one claimed responsibility for the attack on the embassy.

take responsibility for something: Allan has got to take responsibility for the failure of the deal.

on your own responsibility

if you do something on your own responsibility, no one has told you to do it or given you permission to do it and you are willing to accept the blame if something bad happens as a result