Library / English Dictionary

REFEREE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(sports) the chief official (as in boxing or American football) who is expected to ensure fair play

Synonyms:

ref; referee

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("referee" is a kind of...):

official (someone who administers the rules of a game or sport)

Domain category:

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Derivation:

refer (send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision)

referee (be a referee or umpire in a sports competition)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An attorney appointed by a court to investigate and report on a case

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("referee" is a kind of...):

attorney; lawyer (a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone who reads manuscripts and judges their suitability for publication

Synonyms:

reader; referee; reviewer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("referee" is a kind of...):

critic (anyone who expresses a reasoned judgment of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "referee"):

scanner (someone who scans verse to determine the number and prosodic value of the syllables)

Derivation:

refer (send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision)

referee (evaluate professionally a colleague's work)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Evaluate professionally a colleague's work

Synonyms:

peer review; referee

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "referee" is one way to...):

critique; review (appraise critically)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

referee (someone who reads manuscripts and judges their suitability for publication)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be a referee or umpire in a sports competition

Synonyms:

referee; umpire

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "referee" is one way to...):

judge (determine the result of (a competition))

Domain category:

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

referee ((sports) the chief official (as in boxing or American football) who is expected to ensure fair play)

refereeing (the act of umpiring)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“Knock-down for Wilson,” cried the referee, and the answering roar was like the broadside of a seventy-four.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Sir,” said my uncle, raising his hat in his most impressive manner, “I am infinitely obliged to you. With the referee’s permission, there is nothing for it but to shift the stakes.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I appeal to the referee! The fight is null and void.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My uncle’s eyes had rested upon it, but his attention had been drawn away by the discussion between Sir Lothian Hume and the referee upon the question of time.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was a hurried consultation between the principals, the backers, the referee, and the timekeeper.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I’ll umpire if Sir Lothian Hume will do the same, and you can hold the watch and referee, Jackson.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“No,” answered the referee.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The inner was for the combatants and for their seconds, while in the outer there were places for the referee, the timekeeper, the backers, and a few select and fortunate individuals, of whom, through being in my uncle’s company, I was one.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But alas! there was one authority which was higher even than that of the referee, and we were destined to an experience which was the prelude, and sometimes the conclusion, also, of many an old-time fight.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)