ref

¹ American  

[ref] / rɛf /

noun

Sports Slang.

reffed, reffing

1. referee.

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ref. ² American  

abbreviation

1. referee.

2. reference.

3. referred.

4. refining.

5. reformation.

6. reformed.

7. refund.

8. refunding.

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ref. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. referee

2. reference

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ref ² British  

/ rɛf /

noun

1. informal short for referee

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Usage

What does ref mean? Ref is an informal and shortened way of referring to a referee, an official in a sporting event who enforces the rules of the game.In sports, refs do things like call fouls and stop play when there has been a violation of the rules. Basketball, football, and soccer are examples of sports that used this kind of ref.The word referee is also sometimes used to refer to a person who acts as a formal authority or arbitrator in some kind of decision, such as a legal case. Sometimes, the word refers to a person who’s responsible for reviewing scientific or academic papers or grant proposals. Referee can also be used in a figurative way to refer to someone who has to enforce the rules in some situation, as in I spent the afternoon playing referee to several toddlers.Ref can be used as a shortened form of referee in these contexts, but it’s much less common than its use in sports.Sometimes, the word is used as an informal way of addressing a referee, as in “Hey, Ref, good call!” said no one ever.  Like referee, ref can be used as a verb meaning to act as a referee, as in I signed up to ref my daughter’s soccer games. Example: I’ve never understood why players argue with refs—have you ever seen one reverse their call? 

Etymology

Origin of ref

First recorded in 1895–1900; by shortening

Example Sentences

This talented team has far more headaches than the rulebook or the refs.

From The Wall Street Journal

Stop VAR telling the ref what to do and let the ref use VAR himself.

From BBC

And yet these human refs are trained, too, and this one nailed it.

From The Wall Street Journal

Courts, like hockey refs, are often slow with their whistles.

From The Wall Street Journal

“I’m not very feisty with refs. I don’t scream at them so that when I do talk to them, they’ll listen,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• referee
• umpire