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 reader of this intimidating passage can marvel at Butler’s ability to juggle abstract propositions about still more abstract propositions, with no real-world referent in sight.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker