Referee taking time's deliberate (8)
I believe the answer is:
meditate
'deliberate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'referee taking time's' is the wordplay.
'referee' becomes 'mediate' (I've seen this before).
'taking' indicates putting letters inside.
'time' becomes 't'.
'mediate' enclosing 't' is 'MEDITATE'.
(Other definitions for meditate that I've seen before include "Muse" , "Think contemplatively" , "Focus one's mind for a period for spirituality or relaxation" , "Relax mentally" , "Cogitate" .)