have in mind, think of, mean - intend to refer to; "I'm thinking of good food when I talk about France"; "Yes, I meant you when I complained about people who gossip!"

commend, remember - mention as by way of greeting or to indicate friendship; "Remember me to your wife"

speak of the devil - mention someone's name who just then appears

remember - mention favourably, as in prayer; "remember me in your prayers"

quote, cite - refer to for illustration or proof; "He said he could quote several instances of this behavior"

touch on - refer to or discuss briefly

invoke, appeal - cite as an authority; resort to; "He invoked the law that would save him"; "I appealed to the law of 1900"; "She invoked an ancient law"

namedrop - refer to people that one assumes one's interlocutors admire in order to try to impress them

bring up, raise - put forward for consideration or discussion; "raise the question of promotions"; "bring up an unpleasant topic"

drag up, dredge up - mention something unpleasant from the past; "Drag up old stories"

cross-refer - refer from one entry to another, as in catalogues, books, and lists

allude, advert, touch - make a more or less disguised reference to; "He alluded to the problem but did not mention it"

center, center on, concentrate on, focus on, revolve about, revolve around - center upon; "Her entire attention centered on her children"; "Our day revolved around our work"

go for, apply, hold - be pertinent or relevant or applicable; "The same laws apply to you!"; "This theory holds for all irrational numbers"; "The same rules go for everyone"

involve, regard, affect - connect closely and often incriminatingly; "This new ruling affects your business"

matter to, interest - be of importance or consequence; "This matters to me!"

class, classify, sort out, assort, sort, separate - arrange or order by classes or categories; "How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?"

submit, subject - refer for judgment or consideration; "She submitted a proposal to the agency"

send, direct - cause to go somewhere; "The explosion sent the car flying in the air"; "She sent her children to camp"; "He directed all his energies into his dissertation"

recommit - send back to a committee; "The bill was recommitted three times in the House"

research - attempt to find out in a systematically and scientific manner; "The student researched the history of that word"

denote - be a sign or indication of; "Her smile denoted that she agreed"

twist around, convolute, pervert, sophisticate, twist - practice sophistry; change the meaning of or be vague about in order to mislead or deceive

euphemise, euphemize - refer to something with a euphemism

mean, intend - mean or intend to express or convey; "You never understand what I mean!"; "what do his words intend?"

hark back, recall, come back, return - go back to something earlier; "This harks back to a previous remark of his"

identify, name - give the name or identifying characteristics of; refer to by name or some other identifying characteristic property; "Many senators were named in connection with the scandal"; "The almanac identifies the auspicious months"

apply - refer (a word or name) to a person or thing; "He applied this racial slur to me!"

slur - speak disparagingly of; e.g., make a racial slur; "your comments are slurring your co-workers"

express, state - indicate through a symbol, formula, etc.; "Can you express this distance in kilometers?"