Noun reference has 9 senses
  1. mention, reference - a remark that calls attention to something or someone; "she made frequent mention of her promotion"; "there was no mention of it"; "the speaker made several references to his wife"
    --1 is a kind of remark, comment
    --1 has particulars: allusion; retrospection; name-dropping
    Derived form: verb refer1
  2. citation, acknowledgment, credit, reference, mention, quotation - a short note recognizing a source of information or of a quoted passage; "the student's essay failed to list several important citations"; "the acknowledgments are usually printed at the front of a book"; "the article includes mention of similar clinical cases"
    --2 is a kind of note, annotation, notation
    --2 has particulars: photo credit; cross-reference, cross-index
    Derived form: verb reference1
  3. reference point, point of reference, reference - an indicator that orients you generally; "it is used as a reference for comparing the heating and the electrical energy involved"
    --3 is a kind of indicator
    --3 has particulars:
     benchmark, bench mark; landmark; lubber's line, lubber line, lubber's mark, lubber's point; standard, criterion, measure, touchstone; target, mark; white line; buoy
  4. reference book, reference, reference work, book of facts - a book to which you can refer for authoritative facts; "he contributed articles to the basic reference work on that topic"
    --4 is a kind of book
    --4 has particulars:
     cookbook, cookery book; instruction book; source book; wordbook; handbook, enchiridion, vade mecum; directory; annual, yearbook; atlas, book of maps, map collection; encyclopedia, cyclopedia, encyclopaedia, cyclopaedia
    Derived form: verb refer5
  5. character, reference, character reference - a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability; "requests for character references are all to often answered evasively"
    --5 is a kind of recommendation, testimonial, good word
  6. reference, denotation, extension - the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; "the extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos"
    --6 is a kind of meaning, substance
    Derived forms: verb refer2, verb refer6
  7. reference, consultation - the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer"
    --7 is a kind of action
    Derived form: verb refer4
  8. reference, source - a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation"
    --8 is a kind of publication
    Derived forms: verb reference1, verb refer5
  9. reference - the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to; "he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes"
    --9 is a kind of
    meaning, substance
    Derived forms: verb refer6, verb refer3
,Verb reference has 1 sense
  1. reference, cite - refer to; "he referenced his colleagues' work"
    --1 is one way to write, compose, pen, indite
    Derived forms: noun reference8, noun reference2
    Sample sentence:
    Did he reference his major works over a short period of time?
,
TOP