referee
noun
\
Definition of referee
(Entry 1 of 2)
referee
verbDefinition of referee (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms for referee
Synonyms: Noun
adjudicator, arbiter, arbitrator, judge, umpire
Synonyms: Verb
adjudge, adjudicate, arbitrate, decide, determine, judge, rule (on), settle, umpire
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Examples of referee in a Sentence
Noun
served as the unofficial referee in disputes over the family businessVerb
She refereed the basketball game. He has refereed for several years now.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Ward's repetitions during this session ended with him approaching a referee the Browns have presiding over the plays from the corner of the end zone. — Matt Goul, cleveland.com, "What Denzel Ward did Thursday at Cleveland Browns minicamp," 6 June 2019 Lowry knocked the ball into a referee and landed in the lap of one male fan who appeared to grab Lowry's jersey with two hands. — Michael Wagaman, chicagotribune.com, "A courtside fan was ejected from Game 3 of the NBA Finals after shoving Kyle Lowry," 6 June 2019 Lowry knocked the ball into a referee and landed in the lap of one male fan who appeared to grab Lowry’s jersey with two hands. — Michael Wagaman, The Denver Post, "Kyle Lowry shoved by fan after landing out of bounds in Game 3 of NBA Finals," 5 June 2019 Without due process or accountability, a frustrated public is left with appealing to a few powerful referees—and crossing our fingers. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "A majority of Americans don’t think social networks are good for the world," 21 Nov. 2018 In the clip, high school-aged players can be seen hitting a referee. — Chelsea Prince, ajc, "Coach: Viral video of brawl at basketball game doesn’t tell whole story," 10 July 2018 The Tunisians protested that the infraction took place outside of the box, but the VAR team backed the referee’s decision and the penalty was awarded. — SI.com, "Belgium 5-2 Tunisia: Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard Run Riot as Red Devils Qualify for Round of 16," 23 June 2018 In soccer, this means a referee can stop the run of play, award a free kick, even eject the offending player. — Umair Irfan, Vox, "Why soccer players take dives," 21 June 2018 The film-makers offered money to more than 100 mostly west African football officials, including a Kenyan referee due to officiate at this month’s World Cup. — The Economist, "Of 100 African football officials offered cash, only three declined," 14 June 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
In a field nearby, chaperons refereed a soccer match between grade-school students from Auer Avenue School. — William Langhorne, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Summer program intended to provide over 800,000 meals to Milwaukee students kicks off," 13 July 2018 But referee Bjorn Kuipers went over to look at the sideline monitor and reversed the decision. — Jerome Pugmire, chicagotribune.com, "Brazil scores late goals to beat Costa Rica 2-0 at World Cup," 22 June 2018 On the home side, referees conduct video reviews with oversized headsets and undersized tablets that are stored amid a maze of wires. — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, "Enter the Sin Bin: What It's Like to Be Sent to 'Adult Timeout' in the NHL," 17 Apr. 2018 All other refereeing aspects like reading the game, uniformity and consistency in their decisions, positioning etc. — Rob Harris, The Seattle Times, "Refs train with VAR ahead of approval for Women’s World Cup," 4 Feb. 2019 Two hours earlier, a very different side of Macron was seen during a break of play to review a refereeing decision that changed the game in France's favor. — Graham Dunbar, Fox News, "French President Macron has plenty of fun at World Cup final," 15 July 2018 Petr Cech - A few dodgy refereeing decisions may have gone against Arsenal recently but their defence has still been pretty poor, resulting in Cech conceding eight goals in his last four league games. — SI.com, "Premier League Fantasy Football: Who's Hot and Who's Not in Gameweek 23," 12 Jan. 2018 There were also documents suggesting connections between the club and the men responsible for overseeing refereeing in Portugal. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "Why is a Lisbon soccer team trying to unmask Portuguese bloggers in US court?," 12 Oct. 2018 David Socha was the first American to referee a World Cup match, whistling one match each in 1982 and 1986. — Ronald Blum, Houston Chronicle, "El Paso native 1 of 2 US referees at World Cup," 15 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'referee.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for referee
referee
noun
English Language Learners Definition of referee
(Entry 1 of 2)
referee
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of referee (Entry 2 of 2)
See the full definition for referee in the English Language Learners Dictionary
referee
noun
\
Kids Definition of referee
(Entry 1 of 2)
referee
verbKids Definition of referee (Entry 2 of 2)
referee
noun
\
Legal Definition of referee
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