reckon with

verb

To settle accounts or claims with.

“I didn't reckon with his stubbornness.”

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Meanings

verbreckon with (third-person singular simple present reckons with, present participle reckoning with, simple past and past participle reckoned with)

present singular third person reckons with · participle present reckoning with · participle past reckoned with · past reckoned with

  1. To settle accounts or claims with.

    After a long time, the lord of those seruants commeth, and reckoneth with them.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 25:19
  2. To deal with.

    We'll reckon with him after the deed is done.

    2 more examples

    If she lets you down, she'll have me to reckon with

    As the country reckons with how to prevent more children from being killed at school, the legacies of the Parkland victims live on.

    2023 February 14, Holly Yan, “5 years after the Parkland school massacre claimed 17 lives, here’s what has changed (and what hasn’t)”, in CNN
  3. To take into account.

    I didn't reckon with his stubbornness.

    2 more examples

    Swiss manufacturers reckon with the possibility of a contractless state with Germany. The Swiss public opinion is afraid that such a contractless state will lead to intolerable interferences of German authorities with Swiss economic life.

    1918, The Economist, volume 86, page 778

    She had not realised how butcherly the severed vessels would look, and she had not reckoned with the horrid halitus of blood, which steamed to her nostrils under the blazing sun.

    1932, Dorothy L. Sayers, chapter 1, in Have His Carcase (fiction)

Translations

Catalan arreglar els comptes, encarregar-se de
  • arreglar els comptesTo settle accounts with or to settle claims with
  • encarregar-se deTo deal with
  • ocupar-se deTo deal with
  • tenir en compteTo take into account
Estonian tegusõnafraas
  • tegusõnafraasTo settle accounts with or to settle claims with
French régler ses comptes avec, prendre en compte
  • régler ses comptes avecTo settle accounts with or to settle claims with
  • prendre en compteTo take into account
Russian рассчитываться
  • рассчитываться (rassčityvatʹsja)To settle accounts with or to settle claims with
Spanish arreglar las cuentas con, encargarse de
  • arreglar las cuentas conTo settle accounts with or to settle claims with
  • encargarse deTo deal with
  • ocuparse deTo deal with
  • tener en cuentaTo take into account
Swedish räkna med
  • räkna medTo take into account
Cite this entry
APA

reckon with. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reckon%20with

MLA

“reckon with.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reckon%20with. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reckon with,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reckon%20with.

Source: reckon with on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.