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Glite Dictionary
dimpled chad

dimpled chad

3 9.9
A small piece of paper on a ballot pushed in with its corners still attached
  • noun
  • /ˈdɪmpləd tʃæd/
  • Archaic
translation icon : chad hendido
  • Remember hanging, pregnant, and dimpled chads.
  • ballots with dimpled chads
  • dimpled chad is a vote

Examples

  • During the recount, officials had to determine which votes qualified as dimpled chads.

  • Odelson is a longtime election lawyer, a hired gun who has worked with everyone from President Bush and his dimpled chads in Florida to Brian Buchanan, a Joliet plumber running for Will County state's attorney.

    Blog text (6)

  • A ballot with a dimpled chad can still represent a voter's intent if the corners remain attached.

  • Voters were confused about how dimpled chads would be treated in the election results.

Synonyms

pregnant chad
vsdimpled chad
  • Jargon
2 9.9

A small paper piece on a ballot pushed in but still attached at all four corners

is the same defect named for punch-card ballots

Surface Forms

dimpled chad singular
dimpled chads plural

Morphology

dimpled + chad

This is a literal adjective+noun composition: 'dimpled' means indented and 'chad' is a small punched-out paper piece, so together they describe a chad that is indented but not fully detached. The meaning follows directly from the constituent meanings and standard English modification patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's sense.

Etymology

Dimpled chad comes from punch-card voting. A chad is the tiny piece of paper you punch out, and when it is dimpled it has a dent but is still attached, so the ballot may be an 'unclear' mark or not counted.