referent
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We can use terms successfully not because we know much about the referent but because we’re linked to the referent by a great social chain of communication.”
From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2022
You can tweak a reference all you like, but the referent will stay just the same.
From Washington Post • Dec. 21, 2021
“It’s not the most typical referent for ‘sandwich,’” he mused.
From The Verge • Apr. 9, 2020
The beaver was so neutered in the postwar years that its major referent became a 7-year-old boy.
From Slate • Dec. 3, 2014
A restrictive relative clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence, often because it pinpoints the referent of the noun from among a set of alternatives.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
