the act of referring or consulting; "reference to an encyclopedia produced the answer"
the most direct or specific meaning of a word or expression; the class of objects that an expression refers to; "the extension of `satellite of Mars' is the set containing only Demos and Phobos"
the relation between a word or phrase and the object or idea it refers to; "he argued that reference is a consequence of conditioned reflexes"
a publication (or a passage from a publication) that is referred to; "he carried an armful of references back to his desk"; "he spent hours looking for the source of that quotation"
a diligent effort; "it is a job requiring serious application"
the work of applying something; "the doctor prescribed a topical application of iodine"; "a complete bleach requires several applications"; "the surface was ready for a coating of paint";
the act of bringing something to bear; using it for a particular purpose; "he advocated the application of statistics to the problem"; "a novel application of electronics to medical diagnosis"
a verbal or written request for assistance or employment or admission to a school; "December 31 is the deadline for applications"
a program that gives a computer instructions that provide the user with tools to accomplish a task; "he has tried several different word processing applications"