What does "dereferencing" a pointer mean in C/C++?

Hi everyone! I just started learning C++ and I can't understand the concept of pointer dereferencing. I've read many articles, but I'm still confused.\n\nLet's say I have this code:\n\n```cpp\nint x = 42;\nint* ptr = &x;\n```\n\nI understand that `ptr` is a pointer that stores the address of variable `x`. But what does it mean to "dereference" it? For example, when I write `*ptr`, what exactly happens? Is it the same as the reference operator `&`?\n\nI tried printing the values:\n\n```cpp\nstd::cout << ptr; // prints the address\nstd::cout << *ptr; // prints 42\n```\n\nBut why do we need to dereference at all? Why can't we just use the variable `x` directly? In what cases is it really necessary?\n\nI'm especially confused when code uses double pointers (`int** ptr2`) or dereferences