chad

chad — noun

1. 非洲中北部的一個內陸國家，首都為恩賈梅納（N'Djamena）

1.nounB2
Definition

非洲中北部的一個內陸國家，首都為恩賈梅納（N'Djamena）

Example

Leila spent a year teaching English in Chad and loved the lively markets of N'Djamena.

collocation: in Chad / capital N'Djamena

Lake Chad has shrunk dramatically because of droughts and rising temperatures.

proper noun: Lake Chad

Common collocations
  • Lake Chad
  • Republic of Chad
  • northern Chad
  • southern Chad
  • eastern Chad
  • capital of Chad
Synonyms

Usage Note

Always capitalised as a proper noun. The definite article is not used with the country name alone ('in Chad,' not 'in the Chad'), but it does appear in 'the Republic of Chad' and geographical features such as 'the Lake Chad region.'

Common Mistakes

Chad is a small island nation in the Indian Ocean.
Chad is a landlocked country in north-central Africa.
Chad has no coastline; it is surrounded by Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger.

2. 在紙張、資料卡或選票上打孔時從孔洞周圍脫落的小紙片

2.nounC1
Definition

在紙張、資料卡或選票上打孔時從孔洞周圍脫落的小紙片

Example

During the recount, officials examined each ballot for hanging chads that could affect the result.

historical context: 2000 U.S. presidential election — hanging chad

Theo emptied the hole punch and tossed the tiny chads into the wastebasket.

Common collocations
  • hanging chad
  • dimpled chad
  • pregnant chad
  • paper chad
  • punch out a chad
Synonyms
  • punch-out

    More specific to the manufacturing process; less common in ballot contexts

  • hole punch scrap

    Descriptive phrase; less established as a single term

  • confetti

    Informal; confetti is typically shredded or tossed for celebration, not derived from hole-punching

Usage Note

Gained widespread public attention during the 2000 U.S. presidential election recount, where terms like 'hanging chad,' 'dimpled chad,' and 'pregnant chad' described ballots with incompletely punched holes. The plural 'chads' is more common than the singular.

Common Mistakes

I found a Chad on the floor near the printer.
I found a chad on the floor near the printer.
The paper punch-out is lowercase 'chad'; the country is always capitalised as 'Chad'.
A chad is a type of confetti used in celebrations.
A chad is the small piece of paper that falls out when you punch a hole in a card or ballot.
Chads are produced by hole-punching, not by shredding for decoration.

Word family

  • chadless
    adjective

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

"Chad" refers specifically to the small piece of paper or card that is punched out when making a hole (in ballots, data cards, or paper tape). "Confetti" describes shredded or tossed paper used for celebration, not the result of hole-punching. "Shred" implies a torn or cut strip rather than a cleanly punched shape. "Scrap" is any small piece of discarded material, regardless of how it was produced. "Punch-out" is the closest synonym but emphasises the action (the piece that gets punched out) rather than naming the object itself. For example, election officials examined hanging chads — not hanging confetti, hanging shreds, or hanging scraps. The term is rare outside of voting and vintage computing contexts.

confettishred ↗scrappunch-out

Common collocations

Nouns

  • chad box
  • chad container
  • chad count

Etymology

English (uncertain)Middle EnglishKanuriFrench

The origin of "chad" (paper punch-out) is uncertain. One theory traces it to an English politician named Chad who protested the cost of waste paper from government tape-punching machines. Another source points to Middle English "schadde," meaning a piece cut off. The country name Chad comes from Lake Chad, which derives from a Kanuri word meaning "great expanse of water." The two meanings are unrelated in origin but share the same spelling.