| 1. | the state or fact of being responsible. |
| 2. | an instance of being responsible: The responsibility for this mess is yours! |
| 3. | a particular burden of obligation upon one who is responsible: the responsibilities of authority. |
| 4. | a person or thing for which one is responsible: A child is a responsibility to its parents. |
| 5. | reliability or dependability, esp. in meeting debts or payments. |
| 6. | on one's own responsibility, on one's own initiative or authority: He changed the order on his own responsibility. |