Chad

usgb/tʃæd/
noun

A small piece of paper or cardboard that is removed when making holes in a card, especially a voting card.

After the vote, there were chads all over the floor.
Visual representation of "chad" - A small piece of paper or cardboard that is removed when making holes in a card, especially a voting card.

Often appears as...

  • hanging chad
  • punched chad
Definition 1 of 3
Visual representation of "chad"
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Voting Context

Chad is often used in the context of voting to describe the leftover pieces from ballot cards.

Illustration for Voting Context
They had to recount the chads to ensure the accuracy of the vote.
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2000 Election

The term became famous during the 2000 US presidential election due to disputes about ballot counting.

Illustration for 2000 Election
The 2000 election was notorious for the controversy over hanging chads.
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Rare Outside US

Use of 'chad' in the voting sense is uncommon outside of the United States.

Illustration for Rare Outside US
In my country, we use electronic voting, so the concept of a chad is foreign to us.
Visual representation of the word "Chad"

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