chad

noun

: small pieces of paper or cardboard produced in punching paper tape or data cards
also : a piece of chad
chadless adjective

Examples of chad in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web After 2000’s infamous hanging chads, election workers had to become IT professionals. Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2024 Hanging chads mattered far more than anything Cheney or Lieberman said. David French, The Mercury News, 5 Oct. 2024 The fight brewing over these ballots is poised to become critical in future legal challenges; postmarks may become the hanging chad of 2020. Eliza Griswold, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2020 For all of the state’s foibles, from Florida Man to hanging chads, Florida remains a microcosm of the country, a mirror reflecting the contradictions and divisions of the national electorate. Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2020 This horsehair brush is an excellent tool to send scattered debris to the bin: pistachio shells, three-hole-punch chads, soil from the succulent garden. Boone Ashworth, Wired, 18 Feb. 2020 Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press Auto Critic Vote totals aren't in yet but no one at the UAW or Ford is expecting hanging chads. Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, 15 Nov. 2019 Yes, that Broward County, ground zero of the infamous hanging chads controversy from the 2000 presidential election when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore. Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Nov. 2019 In the hanging-chad 2000 election, George W. Bush paid no discernible political price for his party’s irrational exuberance in impeaching Clinton. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 6 June 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chad.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1944, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of chad was in 1944

Dictionary Entries Near chad

Cite this Entry

“Chad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chad. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.

Geographical Definition

Chad

geographical name

variants or French Tchad
landlocked country in north central Africa; capital N'Djamena; a republic; until 1959 a territory of French Equatorial Africa area 495,755 square miles (1,284,000square kilometers), population 15,833,000
Chadian adjective or noun

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