Free TranslationFree Translation
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Refer   /rəfˈər/  /rɪfˈər/   Listen
verb
Refer  v. t.  (past & past part. referred; pres. part. referring)  
1.
To carry or send back. (Obs.)
2.
Hence: To send or direct away; to send or direct elsewhere, as for treatment, aid, information, decision, etc.; to make over, or pass over, to another; as, to refer a student to an author; to refer a beggar to an officer; to refer a bill to a committee; a court refers a matter of fact to a commissioner for investigation, or refers a question of law to a superior tribunal.
3.
To place in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation; as, he referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances.
To refer one's self, to have recourse; to betake one's self; to make application; to appeal. (Obs.) "I'll refer me to all things sense."


Refer  v. i.  
1.
To have recourse; to apply; to appeal; to betake one's self; as, to refer to a dictionary. "In suits... it is to refer to some friend of trust."
2.
To have relation or reference; to relate; to point; as, the figure refers to a footnote. "Of those places that refer to the shutting and opening the abyss, I take notice of that in Job."
3.
To carry the mind or thought; to direct attention; as, the preacher referred to the late election.
4.
To direct inquiry for information or a guarantee of any kind, as in respect to one's integrity, capacity, pecuniary ability, and the like; as, I referred to his employer for the truth of his story.
Synonyms: To allude; advert; suggest; appeal. Refer, Allude, Advert. We refer to a thing by specifically and distinctly introducing it into our discourse. We allude to it by introducing it indirectly or indefinitely, as by something collaterally allied to it. We advert to it by turning off somewhat abruptly to consider it more at large. Thus, Macaulay refers to the early condition of England at the opening of his history; he alludes to these statements from time to time; and adverts, in the progress of his work, to various circumstances of peculiar interest, on which for a time he dwells. "But to do good is... that that Solomon chiefly refers to in the text." "This, I doubt not, was that artificial structure here alluded to." "Now to the universal whole advert: The earth regard as of that whole a part."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |




"Refer" Quotes from Famous Books



... first time I had heard my aunt refer to her past history. There was a magnanimity in her quiet way of doing so, and of dismissing it, which would have exalted her in my respect and affection, ...
— David Copperfield • Charles Dickens
... seem to you a bold thing for Sylvia to have made a joke about my hat, it is only because you do not yet know her. I have referred to her money-consciousness and her social-consciousness; I would be idealizing her if I did not refer to another aspect of her which appalled me when I came to realise it—her clothes-consciousness. She knew every variety of fabric and every shade of colour and every style of design that ever had been delivered of the ...
— Sylvia's Marriage • Upton Sinclair
... Congress providing for the equipment of our vessels of war having been fully carried into execution, I refer to the statement of the Secretary of the Navy for the information which may be proper on that subject. To that statement is added a view of the transfers of appropriations authorized by the act of the session preceding the last and of the grounds on ...
— Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present • Various
... of poems and of tales are almost innumerable, but nearly all are devoid of merit and poorly edited in selection, text, and notes. (This does not refer to the small collections for study in schools.) The best are the following: "Tales of Mystery," Unit Book Publishing Company, New York (72 cents); "The Best Tales of Edgar Allan Poe," edited with critical studies by Sherwin Cody, A.C. McClurg & Company, ...
— Selections From Poe • J. Montgomery Gambrill
... United States has realized its importance and has outlined a social service programme for Catholic agencies. They have field-secretaries and instructors—often Knights of Columbus—throughout the country, carrying on this welfare work. I would refer the reader to the monthly Bulletin of the National Catholic Welfare Council for an idea of the extensive work of their Catholic social activities. It is simply wonderful. As times change our activities also have to ...
— Catholic Problems in Western Canada • George Thomas Daly


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com