Dictionary

go on the account en · VERB

To become a pirate; to join a pirating or filibustering expedition.
- At this island he ran away from his ship, and associating himself with some desperate fellows, they stole a canoe, and went away to the Grand Camanas, to join some others of their own stamp, who lurked thereabouts, with design to go on the account, the term for pirating. 1836, Ezra Strong, “Captain Thomas Howard”, in The Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates:
- And as for serving under Goffe, I hope it is no new thing for gentlemen of fortune who are going on the account, to change a Captain now and then? 1822, Walter Scott, The Pirate:
- However, during peacetime, privateers and navy men were left without employment, so they often went on the account. 1999, Hans Turley, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, NYU Press, →ISBN, page 118:

Spelling	Features	Source
goes on the account	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres	lexicographic
gone on the account	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
going on the account	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part	lexicographic
went on the account	Tense=Past	lexicographic