(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.
