Definition

Noun: A tri-chad is a specific type of chad (a small piece of material, historically paper, produced when a hole is punched) that is incompletely detached. It remains attached to the original medium at three of its four corners.

Usage

The term is used primarily in the context of punch card systems or, most famously, in the context of voting systems that use punch card ballots. It describes a specific, partially-removed state of a chad.

Examples

• The manual recount focused on ballots with hanging chads, particularly tri-chads and pregnant chads.
• A tri-chad indicates the voter's intent may not have been fully registered by the voting machine.
• Election officials had to determine whether a tri-chad counted as a valid vote.

Advanced Usage

• The term gained widespread public use during the 2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida, where the interpretation of partially punched ballots (like tri-chads) was critical.
• It is part of a taxonomy of chad states: (attached by one corner), tri-chad (attached by three corners), (bulging but not pierced), and (indented but not pierced).

Variants and Related Words

• Chad (n): The general term for the small piece of material removed by a punch.
• Hanging chad (n): A chad attached by a single corner.
• Pregnant chad (n): A chad that is bulging but not pierced through.
• Dimpled chad (n): A chad that shows an indentation but is not detached.

Synonyms

• Partially detached chad
• Three-corner chad

Notes

This is a highly specialized term. Its usage outside the contexts of data processing history or election controversies is very rare.

Noun

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