extensive
brief, casual, passing
occasional
frequent, repeated
constant
further
They could find no further reference to Mr LaMotte in the records.

general
particular, special, specific
She won a grant to study political science with special reference to China.

direct, explicit, express (law, esp. BrE), overt
cryptic, indirect, oblique, obscure, subtle, vague, veiled
clear, obvious
ambiguous
early
one of the earliest references to the game of chess

biblical, cultural, historical, literary, religious
written

contain, have, include
Her diary contains no reference to the alleged appointment.

drop, make
He dropped casual references to the legacy of his great work.
The article makes no reference to his first marriage.

delete, drop, omit, remove
The new constitution dropped all reference to previous wars.

avoid
find
get, understand
The audience didn't get the references to colonialism.

in a/the reference
In an obvious reference to the president, he talked of corruption in high places.

in reference to, with reference to (in letters)
I am writing with reference to your job application.

reference to
The summary should be comprehensible without reference back to the source work.
The book is filled with references to God.

easy, quick
The book is organized alphabetically for easy reference.

further, future

by reference to
Our charges are calculated by reference to an hourly rate.

for reference
Retain a copy of the form for future reference.

without reference to
The decision was made without reference to local managers.

for sb's own reference, for sb's personal reference
I made a copy of your work, just for my own reference.

for reference purposes
She needs the book for reference purposes.

a source of reference
The book is an invaluable source of reference for the art historian.

general
The book is by far the best general reference on natural history.

comprehensive
essential
handy, useful
excellent, good
standard
online
an online reference tool

book, guide, manual, material, source, text, work
tool
library
section
You'll find the information in the reference section of your local library.

desk (= in a library)
librarian (esp. AmE)

copious
full
For full references of all books cited, see Appendix B.

appropriate
Please quote the appropriate reference in your letter.

bibliographic, bibliographical
page
grid, map

quote
cite, give
References to original sources are given at the end of each chapter.

check

number

in a/the reference
The date of publication should be included in the reference.

reference to
a reference to page 17

a list of references

glowing, good
bad
character

ask for
need
give (sb), provide (sb with), write (sb)
follow up, take up (BrE)
They've taken up my references (= contacted the people who provided them), so they must be interested in me.

reference from
a reference from your current employer

a letter of reference

act as, be
contact

reference for
His former employer agreed to act as a reference for him.

point
group
Gene frequencies were calculated then compared with the Finnish population as a reference group.

sample (science)

a frame of reference
People interpret events within their own frame of reference.

a point of reference
Unemployment serves as a useful point of reference in examining social problems.

terms of reference (esp. BrE)
The matter was outside the committee's terms of reference.