Lake Chad, a lake in Africa at the junction of four countries: Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. 5,000 to 10,000 sq. mi. (13,000 to 26,000 sq. km) (seasonal variation).
Official Name Republic of Chad. a republic in northern central Africa, east of Lake Chad. 501,000 sq. mi. (1,297,590 sq. km). N'Djamena.
a male given name.
Slang: Sometimes Disparaging. Sometimes chad a confident, successful, athletic man who is attractive to women, sometimes one who is perceived as hypermasculine, arrogant, or shallow.
French name: Tchad. a republic in N central Africa: made a territory of French Equatorial Africa in 1910; became independent in 1960; contains much desert and the Tibesti Mountains, with Lake Chad in the west; produces chiefly cotton and livestock; suffered intermittent civil war from 1963 and prolonged drought. Official languages: Arabic; French. Religion: Muslim majority, also Christian and animist. Currency: franc. Capital: Ndjamena. Pop: 11 193 452 (2013 est). Area: 1 284 000 sq km (495 750 sq miles)
a lake in N central Africa: fed chiefly by the Shari River, it has no apparent outlet. Area: at fullest extent 10 000 to 26 000 sq km (4000 to 10 000 sq miles), varying seasonally; it has shrunk considerably in recent years
Chad was under French control until 1960.
First recorded in 1930–35; origin uncertain
First recorded in 2010–15, Chad 2 for def. 2
The small circle of paper that falls on the floor after you use a hole punch is called a chad. Some voting machines work by punching holes in ballots, leaving a chad hanging from the back. The chad that falls off a card or piece of paper is a waste product of hole punching, often in the process of voting or punching a time card. The word chad was first used in the 1930s, but most Americans never heard it until the 2000 presidential election, when some votes in Florida were contested because of partially-punched ballots with chads still attached.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This, “generally speaking, provides a comfortable buffer,” said Chad Lange, a financial planner at Donaldson Capital Management.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 2, 2026
Fans of Chad Bianco, a top Republican candidate in the race, readily admit that the Riverside County Sheriff’s thick, salt-and-pepper cop mustache is a major draw.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
HRW says airports in the UAE, Libya, Chad and Somalia were used as transit points for the mercenaries before travelling to the frontlines in the Darfur region.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
Hilton praised “sheriffs like Chad who actually understand what public safety looks like” while Bianco acknowledged that his opponent “should be very proud” to have Trump’s endorsement.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026
I lingered on Chad Turner, Phil Stroper and a couple of the other guys, stretching the moment as far as the tension would take it.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
