chad

/tʃæd/

/tʃæd/

Other forms: chads

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.

Definitions of chad

1. noun

   a small piece of paper that is supposed to be removed when a hole is punched in a card or paper tape
   types:

   dimple, dimpled chad, pregnant chad

   a chad that has been punched or dimpled but all four corners are still attached

   hanging chad

   a chad that is incompletely removed and hanging by one corner

   swinging chad

   a chad that is incompletely removed and still attached at two corners

   tri-chad

   a chad that is incompletely removed and still attached at three corners

   type of:

   paper

   a material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses