It is a great responsibility looking after other people's children
direct
overall
primary
ultimate
Ultimate responsibility rests with the prime minister
special
diminished
He was found not guilty of murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility
sole
collective, joint, shared
individual, personal
ministerial, parental
financial, legal, moral, social
VERB + RESPONSIBILITY
have
She has responsibility for public transport
accept, assume, bear, shoulder, take (on/over)
The bank refuses to accept responsibility for the mistake. Will you take responsibility for arranging the food?
share
lay, place
The government of the time placed responsibility for the poor on the Church
delegate, devolve, hand over
devolving responsibility downwards so decisions are taken nearer to the people they will affect
abdicate, evade, shirk, shift
to shift legal responsibility for the correct labelling of goods onto the shopkeeper
admit, claim
No organization has yet claimed responsibility for the bomb attack
deny, disclaim, duck
Ducking responsibility is fatal in a democracy
allocate, assign (sb), give sb
attribute
He attributed responsibility for the killing to the secret service
burden sb with
absolve sb from/of
RESPONSIBILITY + VERB
fall on sb, lie/rest with sb
PREP
~ for
Full responsibility for the fiasco lies with the PR department
~ towards
He feels a strong sense of responsibility towards his parents
PHRASES
the age of criminal responsibility, the burden of responsibility
The school governors carry a special burden of responsibility
do sth on your own responsibility (= without being told to and being willing to take the blame if it goes wrong), a position of responsibility, a sense of responsibility