Refer vs. Defer

Refer vs. Defer — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between Refer and Defer

Referverb

(transitive) To direct the attention of.

The shop assistant referred me to the help desk on ground floor.

Deferverb

(transitive) To delay or postpone; especially to postpone induction into military service.

Referverb

(transitive) To submit to (another person or group) for consideration; to send or direct elsewhere.

He referred the matter to the principal.to refer a patient to a psychiatrist

Deferverb

(American football) After winning the opening coin toss, to postpone until the start of the second half a team's choice of whether to kick off or receive (and to allow the opposing team to make this choice at the start of the first half).

Referverb

(transitive) To place in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation.

He referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances.

Deferverb

(intransitive) To delay, to wait.

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Referverb

To allude to, make a reference or allusion to.

To explain the problem, the teacher referred to an example in another textbook.

Deferverb

To submit to the opinion or desire of another in respect to their judgment or authority.

Referverb

(grammar) To be referential to another element in a sentence.

Deferverb

To render, to offer.

Referverb

(computing) To address a specific location in computer memory.

Deferverb

hold back to a later time;

let's postpone the exam
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Referverb

(education) Required to resit an examination.

Smith's marks in the finals were unsatisfactory and he was referred.

Deferverb

submit or yield to another's wish or opinion;

The government bowed to the military pressure

Referverb

make reference to;

His name was mentioned in connection with the invention

Referverb

have to do with or be relevant to;

There were lots of questions referring to her talkMy remark pertained to your earlier comments

Referverb

think of, regard, or classify under a subsuming principle or with a general group or in relation to another;

This plant can be referred to a known species

Referverb

send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision;

refer a patient to a specialistrefer a bill to a committee

Referverb

seek information from;

You should consult the dictionaryrefer to your notes

Referverb

have as a meaning;

`multi-' denotes `many'