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refer

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verb British English pronunciation: refer /rɪˈfɜː(r)/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theyrefer
he/she/itrefers
present participlereferring
past tensereferred
past participlereferred

phrasal verb

refer to

[transitive]
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theyrefer to
he/she/itrefers to
present participlereferring to
past tensereferred to
past participlereferred to
  1. 1
    refer to someone/something to mention someone or something when you are speaking or writing

    She referred to the subject several times during her speech.

    Jack was careful not to refer to the woman by name.

    refer to someone/something as:

    Even as a boy he referred to his father as Steve.

    refer back to something (=mention something again):

    I would like to refer back to something I said in my introduction.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  referThesaurus entry for this meaning of refer
  2. 2
    refer to something to describe something, or to be about something

    These notes refer to the case of a teenage murderer.

    The term ‘groupware’ refers to software designed to be used by several computer users at once.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  referThesaurus entry for this meaning of refer
  3. 3
    refer someone to someone/something to send someone to another person or place in order to get help, information, or advice

    The doctor referred me to a skin specialist.

    Her case was referred to the Court of Appeal.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  referThesaurus entry for this meaning of refer
  4. 4
    refer to something formal to look at a book, map etc for information

    Please refer to our catalogue for details of all our products.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  referThesaurus entry for this meaning of refer

This is the British English definition of refer. View American English definition of refer.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

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