referee

Pluralreferees

Formsreferees, refereeing, refereed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   An official, similar to an umpire or judge, who makes sure the rules are followed during a game.

   The referee waved play on despite loud appeals for a penalty.

   Hockey referees skate several miles during a single game.

   Similarumpire, official, ref, judge

   Note

   The sports official is the sense most readers know first, though the word's shape tells an older story. A referee is, as if refer + -ee, the person to whom a question is referred. On the field that question is a foul or a disputed point. The referee rules on it and can stop play, award a penalty, or send a player off for fighting. Some sports divide this authority between a referee and umpires with narrower duties.

2. 2
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To act as a referee; to officiate a game or judge a dispute or submission.

   A retired player agreed to referee the championship match.

   She refereed her first professional game last season.

   Similarofficiate, umpire, judge, adjudicate, ref

   Note

   The verb is made straight from the noun and takes on each of its jobs. It is transitive, and its object is whatever gets judged: you referee three hockey games, or you referee an article for Nature, the work of the manuscript reviewer. In spelling, the double e survives every ending: referees, refereed, and refereeing, which keeps both e's before -ing.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A person who steps in to settle a dispute between two parties.

   The HR director served as referee in the dispute between the two departments.

   Neighbors asked him to be the referee in their long-running argument over the fence line.

   Similararbiter, arbitrator, mediator, umpire, judge

4. 4
   nouncountable

   An expert who evaluates the manuscript of an article or book and judges whether it should be published.

   Both referees recommended revisions before the paper could be accepted.

   The editor asked a third referee to settle the disagreement between the first two reviews.

   Similarreviewer, reader, assessor

5. 5
   nounUKcountable

   A person who writes a letter of reference or provides one by phone for a job or school applicant; the US English term is reference.

   His former manager acted as his referee and praised his work over the phone.

   University applications in Britain usually ask for at least one academic referee.

   Similarreference, sponsor

   Note

   This is British usage, and it trips up American readers: here a referee vouches for an applicant rather than judging a game. Application forms ask for letters from referees, and the person who writes is the referee while what they write is a reference. American English uses reference for the person as well, so an American who lists "my references" means the people who will speak for them.

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