ref
US/ɹɛf/
ref is the clipping of referee.
ref is the abbreviation of reference.
ref is the clipping of refsheet.
ref is the abbreviation of refectory.
ref is the clipping of refrigerator.
Meaning of referee
Noun
referee (plural referees)
- An umpire or judge; an official who makes sure the rules are followed during a game.
- The referee kicked Jim out of the game for fighting.
- A person who settles a dispute.
- A person who writes a letter of reference or provides a reference by phone call for someone. (In the UK such a person is sometimes, and in the US the person is typically, referred to as a reference.)
- Your application, along with letters from three referees, should be received by January 31.
- An expert who judges the manuscript of an article or book to decide if it should be published.
Meaning of reference
Noun
reference (countable and uncountable, plural references)
- A relationship or relation (to something).
- A man is beloued of a man, in that he is a man, but all theſe are farre more eminent and great, when they ſhal proceed from a ſanctified ſpirit, that hath a true touch of Religion, and a reference to God.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Charity, compoſed of all three kindes, Pleaſant, Profitable, Honeſt”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […]...
- A measurement one can compare (some other measurement) to.
- Information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted.
- Changes will befall, and friends may part, / But distance only cannot change the heart / And were I call’d to prove th’ assertion true, / One proof should serve—a reference to you.a. 1800, William Cowper, “An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq.”, in The Task, Tirocinium, and Other Poems, page 180
- A person who provides this information; a referee.
- A reference work.
- reference grammar
- The act of referring: a submitting for information or decision.
Verb
ref (third-person singular simple present refs, present participle reffing, simple past and past participle reffed)
- To referee; to act as a referee in a sport or game.
- On the block when we were growing up we called him Ronnie the Enforcer because he umped all the stickball games and reffed the hockey.1982, Stephen King, Survivor Type
Noun capitalized: REF
REF (plural REFs)
- Initialism of row echelon form.
Proper noun (1) capitalized: REF
REF
- Initialism of Research Excellence Framework: a system for assessing the quality of research in higher-education institutions.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Ref
Ref (plural Refs)
- A surname.
Forms of ref
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | refs |
| plural | REFs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | refs |
| present participle | reffing |
| past participle | reffed |
| past | reffed |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Refs |
Origin of ref
Clippings.
Words formed from ref
Phrases with ref
Words that rhyme with ref
Questions about ref
- What does ref mean?
- Ref means to referee; to act as a referee in a sport or game.
- What is ref the clipping of?
- Ref is the clipping of referee.
- What part of speech is ref?
- Ref can be a verb, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce ref?
- Ref is pronounced /ɹɛf/ (US).
- What is the past tense of ref?
- The past tense of ref is reffed.
Words near ref in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ref (page history and authors); REF (page history and authors); Ref (page history and authors); referee (page history and authors); reference (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ref.wav.
Cite this entry: “ref.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ref. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.