Definitions
Etymologies
- 1877, ‘young or small child’, probably a shortened form of tadpole. The extended meaning ‘small amount’ is first recorded 1915. (Wiktionary)
- Perhaps short for tadpole. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The other thing that kicks this one up a tad is the major eye candy babe-age with both Musetta Vander as Shan'auc and Vanessa Angel as Anise (and who, exactly, designs a top that leaves the belly button bare?)”
“The more usual use of tad is the sense 'a small amount or degree; a bit ', often used in the adverbial phrase a tad 'a little; slightly'.”
“I hope they do Suicide Squeeze, altho they'd hafta tone down the title a tad, considering the economy and all.”
“A deity'dev' was also named and installed here and thus the name tad-dev.”
“I am not sure tad is allowed to modify risque - or even be in the same sentence - especially when the subject is tango:”
“Tamer by a tad was the $146,000 Audi R8 -- out of all the cars in the group, this is the one I'd actually buy, a still-super-cool-but-practical daily driver.”
“They have now reduced it a tad, which is why the 8th district is up for grabs in the house race this year.”
“In fact, the one thing of the play that bothered me just a tad was the insistence on the ending of tying some loose ends off when I would happily and oddly for me, I've got to say seen them unresolved.”
“Pictured on the left sidebar scroll down a tad is the logo of a new sponsor we are particularly proud of here at From On High.”
“Sometimes she says the bones creak a tad, but she refuses to quit, because she loves helping people.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tad’.
-
Imprecise Units of Measurement
A list of terms for units of measurement that are less than exact, such as dessert-spoonful.
two shakes, dessert-spoonful, a pinch, a bit, some, smidge, smidgin, dollop, drop, fleck, smack, sprinkling and 187 more...
-
Common English Words That Are Also Fi...
art, bob, bill, grace, hope, john, heather, pat, amber, jack, dale, glen and 170 more...
-
Scrabble Names
Given names that were acceptable for play the last time I checked the OWL.
kris, ray, barb, morris, kat, mark, maria, erica, marge, mason, hunter, hazel and 168 more...
-
3-letter Scrabble Words
aah, aal, aas, aba, abo, abs, aby, ace, act, add, ado, ads and 995 more...
-
known words
words wot i already knew
antisyzygy, calenture, shill, saudade, sehnsucht, squonk, steganographic, anomie, wiggy, grok, hermeneutics, agrise and 206 more...
-
Fun with Apocopes
Words created by removing the end of a longer or original word. See also Fun with Aphesis.
abs, ad, bio, veg, veggie, tux, auto, bike, carbs, pecs, bro, sis and 186 more...
-
3LW
3 letter words, not the girl band.
boggle and speed scrabble would not be half as fun without them.aah, boa, dot, fun, ick, log, oca, pyx, sos, was, aal, bob and 342 more...
-
elvesoncrack's Words
lachrymose, blustering, fjord, chihuahua, chiffon, catalytic, stile, gefilte, prosh, thwart, ralph, ickle and 379 more...
-
DanieleO's list
-
South Yorkshire medical terminology
For definitions see the source document.
"All the words and phrases included in this guide are those that have been used by patients during consultations and have been included to assi...winkle, wind pipe, willy, widgy, well, it's a nogg..., wee-wee, water, uncle sam, tuppence, tummy ache, trotters, tootsies and 123 more...
-
All dressed up and no place to go
another toybox where I can put words I want to play with later.
toybox, excrescence, greengrocer, sequin, gehenna, ingenuous, disingenuous, cavil, ingenius, exsanguination, pictograph, postulate and 31 more...
-
Informal
canary, wishy-washy, brummie, veep, kludge, beaut, moniker, humongous, tushie, ponce, Chinaman, cocky and 44 more...
-
janusz_chorzepa's list
learning list
ruse, bull goose loney, quarter section, cantankerous, restful, shy, concede, shroud, ineffable, ostensible, flense, spurious and 71 more...
-
Extract (2009)
Words from 2009 'Extract' film.
humbucking, vato, sweatpants, settle down, forklift, dinkus, mill around, condo, chlorine, insulation, fiberglass, bartender and 38 more...
-
kibbles and bits
itty bitty "measurements"
smattering, smithereen, hint, tinge, drop, tad, iota, scrap, whiff, handful, taste, jiff and 34 more...
-
I don't give a damn
frank, nick, bob, tanner, mercy, faith, hope, charity, grace, rock, rip, dale and 19 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for tad.

ulleskelf I like tad in the "small amount" sense. May 5, 2009
bilby
My mother told me long ago
(When I was a little tad)
That when the night went wailing so,
Somebody had been bad;
And then, when I was snug in bed,
Whither I had been sent,
With the blankets pulled up round my head,
I'd think of what mother'd said,
And wonder what boy she meant!
- Eugene Field, 'The Night Wind'. Nov 3, 2008