Showing results for "chad"

Jump To:

• chad
  chad

  noun

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

  noun

  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).

SEE ALSO:

Slang dictionary results for Chad.

chad

¹ American  

[chad] / tʃæd /

noun

Computers.

• chads
  plural

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

---

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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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

---

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.

---

Discover More

Chad was under French control until 1960.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chads
  plural

---

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

See Examples For:

chad Chad chads

Hanging chad: A chad is the small piece of waste paper or card created when a hole is punched in a ballot.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2016

During the recount, was his sense of mental well-being intact or hanging like a chad?

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 27, 2016

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

It was signed by the alliance's lead attorney, David Boies, who took on Microsoft, fought for Al Gore in the hanging chad presidential election of 2000, and litigated on behalf of gay marriage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2016

Ich think, and chad my hands loose, callet, chould have crust thee!

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

That included a 13-yard touchdown pass at the end of regulation that looked like it would seal a win, until Arizona’s Chad Ryland missed the extra point.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Mission Viejo coach Chad Johnson said before kickoff that the game would be decided by explosive plays, and he wanted to limit the opponent’s electric moments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

“Everybody was just looking for a breathing body,” quipped Chad Moutray, senior vice president for industry research at the National Restaurant Association.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026

“The methane rules have been very cumbersome for us,” said Chad McDougall, vice president at JMA Energy, a privately held oil-and-gas producer in Oklahoma City.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

When Donna and Chad exit the car, Justin says, “I’m so happy for you, Astrid. I wish I would have known before so I could have helped you.”

From "Ask the Passengers" by A.S. King

It was where Senga Nengudi debuted her sculptures of stretched-out pantyhose weighted with sand, and where Howardena Pindell first showed her abstract “dot” paintings, composed of paper chads.

From New York Times ● Sep. 13, 2022

While the country won’t have to worry about hanging or pregnant chads in this election, it’s likely that Americans will go to bed Tuesday night without knowing who the next president will be.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 2, 2020

Unlike in South Florida, where punchcard ballots led to the much-maligned hanging chads, Volusia County used optical scan ballots.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 10, 2020

Although problems clearly remain, the state no longer has hanging chads to worry about.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 16, 2018

He followed her as she tried to bring some order out of chads, and knew not that he spoke aloud.

From Kate Carnegie and Those Ministers by Ian Maclaren

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---