chad

¹ American  

[chad] / tʃæd /

noun

Computers.

1. a small paper disk or square formed when a hole is punched in a punch card or paper tape.

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Chad ² American  

[chad] / tʃæd /

noun

1. 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).

2. 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.

3. Chadic.

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Chad ³ American  

[chad] / tʃæd /

noun

1. a male given name.

2. 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.

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Chad ¹ British  

/ tʃæd /

noun

1. 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)

2. 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

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chad ² British  

/ tʃæd /

noun

1. the small pieces of cardboard or paper removed during the punching of holes in computer printer paper, paper tape, etc

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Chad Cultural  

1. Landlocked desert republic in north-central Africa, bordered by Sudan to the east; the Central African Republic to the south; Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria to the west; and Libya to the north. N'Djamena is its capital and largest city.

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Discover More

Chad was under French control until 1960.

Etymology

Origin of chad¹

First recorded in 1930–35; origin uncertain

Origin of Chad³

First recorded in 2010–15, Chad ² for def. 2

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

One of the biggest influencers is Braden Peters, AKA Clavicular, a sharp-jawed 20-year-old known in looksmaxxing terms as "giga chad"; 10/10.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026

Some voters, however, didn't fully punch out the presidential chad or gave it just a little push.

From Fox News • Nov. 11, 2018

In 2002, after the so-called hanging chad scandal of the 2000 Presidential election, federal funds helped spread the use of electronic voting machines that are still in use today.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 5, 2018

At the end, everyone on the inside of the charmed circle lives happily ever after, with not a single dangling chad to lose sleep over.

From Salon • May 1, 2016

Gog's soul, man, chould give a crown chad it but three stitches.

From Gammer Gurton's Needle by Art, Mr. S. Mr. of