1. (v. t.) To direct to another place for information.

2. (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.

3. (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.

4. (v. i.) To have recourse; to apply; to appeal; to betake one's self; as, to refer to a dictionary.

5. (v. i.) To have relation or reference; to relate; to point; as, the figure refers to a footnote.

6. (v. i.) To carry the mind or thought; to direct attention; as, the preacher referred to the late election.

7. (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.