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quad.

Clipping of quadrat.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kwɑd/General-American/kwɒd/Received-Pronunciation
  1. Clipping of quadrat. A blank metal block used to fill short lines of type.

    obsolete
  2. Clipping of quadrat. A joke used to fill long days of setting type.

    obsolete · slang
  3. Clipping of quadrat. A keyboard command which aligns text with the left or right margin, or centred between them. In combination, as quad left, quad right, or quad centre.

    obsolete
  4. A quadrangle (quadrangular courtyard).

    informal
  5. A horse, from colloquial or humorous quadruped specifically for horse.

    colloquial · dated
  6. Something that is quadruple (four times) the usual amount, number, etc. A poster advertising a cinematic film release, measuring forty by thirty inches, four times the area of crown paper.

  7. Something that is quadruple (four times) the usual amount, number, etc. A quadruple, a jump with four revolutions in the air.

  8. Something that is quadruple (four times) the usual amount, number, etc. A serving of four shots of espresso; (attributive) containing four shots of espresso.

  9. Something that is quadruple (four times) the usual amount, number, etc. A skate with four wheels.

  10. Clipping of quadruplet (“a set of four; one of a set of four”).

    abbreviation · alt-of · clipping
  11. Clipping of quadruplet (“a set of four; one of a set of four”). A group of four insulated wires twisted together to form two circuits of two wires each.

  12. Clipping of quadruplet (“a set of four; one of a set of four”). A quad antenna, a directional radio antenna consisting of multiple loop antennas.

  13. Clipping of quadruplet (“a set of four; one of a set of four”). A quadruplet, one of four babies born during the same birth.

    informal
  14. Clipping of quadruplet (“a set of four; one of a set of four”). A kind of round-robin tournament between four players, where each participant plays every other participant once.

  15. Clipping of quadruplet (“a set of four; one of a set of four”). The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price bound in a single volume.

    Mormonism
  16. Clipping of quadruplet (“a set of four; one of a set of four”). Of or relating to quads (four of a kind).

    attributive · slang
  17. The quadriceps muscle.

    informal
  18. Quadruplex videotape.

    informal
  19. A quadriplegic person.

    informal
  20. A unit of energy equivalent to a quadrillion BTU (10¹⁵ BTU).

  21. A small off-road four-wheeled powered vehicle, usually used for recreation or farm work.

  22. A quadrilateral.

    informal
  23. A quadcopter.

    informal
  24. A quadrupel beer.

    informal
Where this word comes from

Shortened, via clipping or abbreviation, from various English terms. Ultimately related to Latin quattuor (“4”); compare quadri-, quadruple. The typography senses are from the abbreviation quad. for obsolete quadrat; the keyboard command comes from the verb sense.

adj/kwɑd/General-American/kwɒd/Received-Pronunciation
  1. Quadruple, four times the usual size or quantity.

    not-comparable
  2. Quadrille, marked with squares.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

Shortened, via clipping or abbreviation, from various English terms. Ultimately related to Latin quattuor (“4”); compare quadri-, quadruple. The typography senses are from the abbreviation quad. for obsolete quadrat; the keyboard command comes from the verb sense.

verb/kwɑd/General-American/kwɒd/Received-Pronunciation
  1. To fill spaces in a line of type with quads. Also quad out.

    intransitive · transitive
  2. To align text with the left or right margin, or centre it.

    intransitive · transitive
  3. To twist four individually insulated conductors together as two pairs of twisted wires that are then twisted together.

    transitive
  4. To ride a quad bike.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

Shortened, via clipping or abbreviation, from various English terms. Ultimately related to Latin quattuor (“4”); compare quadri-, quadruple. The typography senses are from the abbreviation quad. for obsolete quadrat; the keyboard command comes from the verb sense.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.