REFER (referred, referring)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: referred    , referring   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does refer mean? 

• REFER (verb)
  The verb REFER has 7 senses:

1. make reference to

2. be relevant to

3. think of, regard, or classify under a subsuming principle or with a general group or in relation to another

4. send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision

5. seek information from

6. have as a meaning

7. use a name to designate

  Familiarity information: REFER used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REFER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they refer    ... he / she / it refers   
Past simple: refered    / referred   
Past participle: refered    / referred   
-ing form: refering    / referring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make reference to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

advert; bring up; cite; mention; name; refer

Context example:

His name was mentioned in connection with the invention

Hypernyms (to "refer" is one way to...):

have in mind; mean; think of (intend to refer to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refer"):

touch on (refer to or discuss briefly)

cross-refer (refer from one entry to another, as in catalogues, books, and lists)

drag up; dredge up (mention something unpleasant from the past)

bring up; raise (put forward for consideration or discussion)

namedrop (refer to people that one assumes one's interlocutors admire in order to try to impress them)

appeal; invoke (cite as an authority; resort to)

cite; quote (refer to for illustration or proof)

remember (mention favorably, as in prayer)

speak of the devil (mention someone's name who just then appears)

commend; remember (mention as by way of greeting or to indicate friendship)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

reference (a remark that calls attention to something or someone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be relevant to

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

bear on; come to; concern; have to do with; pertain; refer; relate; touch; touch on

Context example:

My remark pertained to your earlier comments

Verb group:

advert; allude; touch (make a more or less disguised reference to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refer"):

center; center on; concentrate on; focus on; revolve about; revolve around (center upon)

apply; go for; hold (be pertinent or relevant or applicable)

affect; involve; regard (connect closely and often incriminatingly)

interest; matter to (be of importance or consequence)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

reference (the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Think of, regard, or classify under a subsuming principle or with a general group or in relation to another

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

This plant can be referred to a known species

Hypernyms (to "refer" is one way to...):

assort; class; classify; separate; sort; sort out (arrange or order by classes or categories)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

reference (the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

refer a bill to a committee

Hypernyms (to "refer" is one way to...):

direct; send (cause to go somewhere)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refer"):

submit (refer for judgment or consideration)

recommit (send back to a committee)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

referee ((sports) the chief official (as in boxing or American football) who is expected to ensure fair play)

referee (someone who reads manuscripts and judges their suitability for publication)

reference (the act of referring or consulting)

referral (the act of referring (as forwarding an applicant for employment or referring a matter to an appropriate agency))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Seek information from

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

consult; look up; refer

Context example:

refer to your notes

Hypernyms (to "refer" is one way to...):

research (attempt to find out in a systematically and scientific manner)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

reference (a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts)

reference (a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Have as a meaning

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

denote; refer

Context example:

'multi-' denotes 'many'

Hypernyms (to "refer" is one way to...):

intend; mean; signify; stand for (denote or connote)

Verb group:

denote (be a sign or indication of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refer"):

euphemise; euphemize (refer to something with a euphemism)

come back; hark back; recall; return (go back to something earlier)

identify; name (give the name or identifying characteristics of; refer to by name or some other identifying characteristic property)

apply (refer (a word or name) to a person or thing)

slur (speak disparagingly of; e.g., make a racial slur)

express; state (indicate through a symbol, formula, etc.)

convolute; pervert; sophisticate; twist; twist around (practice sophistry; change the meaning of or be vague about in order to mislead or deceive)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

reference (the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to)

reference (the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Use a name to designate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

Christians refer to the mother of Jesus as the Virgin Mary

Hypernyms (to "refer" is one way to...):

be known as; call; know as; name (assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

The wide range of disorders is collectively referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

(Gene Disruptions Associated with Autism Risk, NIH)

A soundscape’s saturation refers to the variety of pitches and frequencies found in the sounds.

(Scientists record the sound of intact forest, SciDev.Net)

Scientists refer to this as the "epoch of reionization."

(First Stars Formed Later Than We Thought, NASA)

Because of this combination of textures, the researchers refer to these unusual areas as "irregular mare patches."

(Evidence for Young Lunar Volcanism, NASA)

This is referred to as ‘nuclear DNA’.

(Interplay between mitochondria and the nucleus may have implications for changing cell’s ‘batteries’, University of Cambridge)

Sometimes referred to as the ‘third pole’ after the Antarctic and Arctic circles, its glaciers feed 10 of the world’s most important rivers.

(Bulk of Himalayan glaciers could vanish by 2100, SciDev.Net)

Based on this finding, medical teams treating patients with MMA will be able to measure FGF21 levels to predict how severely patients’ livers are affected and when to refer patients for liver transplants.

(Elevated hormone flags liver problems in mice with methylmalonic acidemia, National Institutes of Health)

It would be an ideal day to open a business. (The Sun, of course, is not a planet, but for simplicity, both the Sun and moon are referred to as planets.)

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

But my account of this voyage must be referred to the Second Part of my Travels.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The evidence against him was so strong that the case has been referred to the Assizes.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)