Definition of refer

• v. t. - To carry or send back.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. i. - To have recourse; to apply; to appeal; to betake one's self; as, to refer to a dictionary.
• v. i. - To have relation or reference; to relate; to point; as, the figure refers to a footnote.
• v. i. - To carry the mind or thought; to direct attention; as, the preacher referred to the late election.
• v. i. - 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.