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Chad - 11 dictionary results

chad

  [chad]
Use Chad in a Sentence
–noun Computers.
a small paper disk or square formed when a hole is punched in a punch card or paper tape.
Origin:
1945–50; orig. uncert.

Chad

  [chad]
–noun
1. Lake, a lake in Africa at the junction of four countries: Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. 5000 to 10,000 sq. mi. (13,000 to 26,000 sq. km) (seasonal variation).
2. Official name, Republic of Chad. a republic in N central Africa, E of Lake Chad: a member of the French Community; formerly part of French Equatorial Africa. 7,166,023; 501,000 sq. mi. (1,297,590 sq. km). Capital: N'Djamena.
3. Chadic.
4. a male given name.
French, Tchad (for defs. 1, 2).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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chad   (chād)   
n.  
  1. Scraps or bits of paper, such as the perforated edges of paper for tractor feed printers or the tiny rectangles punched out from data cards.
  2. One of these scraps or bits of paper.

[Origin unknown.]
Chad   (chād)   


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A country of north-central Africa. Once part of French Equatorial Africa, it became independent in 1960. N'Djamena is the capital and the largest city. Population: 9,890,000.
Chad'i·an adj. & n.
Chad, Lake  
A shallow lake of north-central Africa in Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria. It was first explored by Europeans in 1823.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Chad

Chad\, n. See Shad. [Obs.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Chad

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.

Note: Chad was under French control until 1960.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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chad

/chad/ n.
1. [common] The perforated edge strips on printer paper, after they have been separated from the printed portion. Also called selvage, perf, and ripoff.
2. obs. The confetti-like paper bits punched out of cards or paper tape; this has also been called `chaff', `computer confetti', and `keypunch droppings'. It's reported that this was very old Army slang, and it may now be mainstream; it has been reported seen (1993) in directions for a card-based voting machine in California.

Historical note: One correspondent believes `chad' (sense 2) derives from the Chadless keypunch (named for its inventor), which cut little u-shaped tabs in the card to make a hole when the tab folded back, rather than punching out a circle/rectangle; it was clear that if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the stuff that other keypunches made had to be `chad'. There is a legend that the word was originally acronymic, standing for "Card Hole Aggregate Debris", but this has all the earmarks of a backronym.

computer confetti

n. Syn. {chad}. Though this term is common, this use of punched-card chad is not a good idea, as the pieces are stiff and have sharp corners that could injure the eyes. GLS reports that he once attended a wedding at MIT during which he and a few other guests enthusiastically threw chad instead of rice. The groom later grumbled that he and his bride had spent most of the evening trying to get the stuff out of their hair.

perf

/perf/ n. Syn. {chad} (sense 1). The term `perfory' /per'f*-ree/ is also heard. The term {perf} may also refer to the perforations themselves, rather than the chad they produce when torn (philatelists use it this way).
Jargon File 4.2.0
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chad jargon, printer
/chad/ (Or "selvage" /sel'v*j/ (sewing and weaving), "perf", "perfory", "snaf"). 1. The perforated edge strips on paper for sprocket feed printers, after they have been separated from the printed portion.
The term perf may also refer to the perforations themselves, rather than the chad they produce when torn.
[Why "snaf"?]
2. (Or "chaff", "computer confetti", "keypunch droppings") The confetti-like bits punched out of punched cards or paper tape which collected in the chad box.
One of the Jargon File's correspondents believed that "chad" derived from the chadless keypunch.
[The Jargon File]
(1997-07-18)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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