Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Quadraphonic.
  • noun A quadriceps muscle.
  • adjective Quadruple.
  • noun Something having four identifiable or prominent parts or members.
  • noun Something capable of carrying or moving four people or things, as a chairlift.
  • noun A quadruplet.
  • noun A quadrangle.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In printing, to fill with quadrats: as to quad out a line.
  • noun A quadrangle or court, as of a college.
  • noun The quadrangle of a prison where prisoners take exercise; hence, a prison; a jail. More commonly spelled quod.
  • noun In printing, a quadrat.
  • noun See qued.
  • noun An abbreviation of quadruplex in telegraphy.
  • To put in prison.
  • noun A bicycle for four riders.
  • noun An abbreviation of quadrant, the unit of self-inductance;
  • noun of quadrate;
  • noun of quadruplex (telegraph).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective obsolete Evil; bad; baffling.
  • noun (Print.) A quadrat.
  • noun (Arch.), Cant or Slang A quadrangle; hence, a prison.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun informal A quadrangle (courtyard).
  • noun informal A quadruplet (infant).
  • noun short for quadrilateral
  • noun informal A quadriceps muscle.
  • noun Four shots of espresso.
  • noun A quad bike.
  • adjective Having four shots of espresso.
  • adjective poker slang Of or relating to quads.
  • noun A blank metal block used to fill short lines of type.
  • noun A joke used to fill long days of setting type.
  • noun typography, phototypesetting and digital typesetting 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.
  • verb transitive, intransitive To fill spaces in a line of type with quads. Also quad out.
  • verb typography, phototypesetting and digital typesetting, transitive, intransitive To align text with the left or right margin, or centre it.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a muscle of the thigh that extends the leg
  • noun one of four children born at the same time from the same pregnancy
  • noun (printing) a block of type without a raised letter; used for spacing between words or sentences
  • noun a rectangular area surrounded on all sides by buildings

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1785 Quads. pl, 1847 quads, verb 1876. From the abbreviation quad., for obsolete quadrat. Keyboard command is named for the verb sense.

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Examples

  • Things will slowly return to normal on campus -- the TP on the quad is already disintegrating from the rain this weekend, and the world of college life will go on as the freshmen come to campus in a few weeks.

    Archive 2007-07-01 Mary Kate Hurley 2007

  • Things will slowly return to normal on campus -- the TP on the quad is already disintegrating from the rain this weekend, and the world of college life will go on as the freshmen come to campus in a few weeks.

    Skip Prosser (1950-2007): Rest in Peace Mary Kate Hurley 2007

  • To skating fans, seeing a quad is as exciting as a Hail Mary, a walk-off grand slam or a hole in one.

    USATODAY.com - Quadruple jump can throw you for a loop 2003

  • And then his great vision, but his great failure, was in introducing what he called a quad plan, which was breaking up this somewhat amorphous college where the students didn't know each other so well anymore and where they were distracted by extracurricular affairs and living off the campus and so on, by organizing separate colleges which later Harvard took up in the house plan in the college plan house plan, and Yale took up in the college plan.

    Woodrow Wilson: A Biography 1992

  • If the quad is running lean from increased airflow you can install a “2-inch to 1. 5-inch flush reducer” into the end of your airbox intake snorkel.

    Workshop: Snorkel Installation Cassandra 2009

  • "The quad is a huge point-getter, but it's only 1.6 more than a triple axel," Olympic champion Scott Hamilton says.

    Lost art of quadruple jump a risk few skaters willing to take 2010

  • If you are willing to pay more for synthetic oil, then your quad is probably better off with it than with conventional oil.

    Synthetic vs. Cassandra 2009

  • A dirty quad is a playground for lurking problems.

    10 Ways To Ruin Your Quad Cassandra 2009

  • This 270cc four-stroke utility quad is liquid cooled and features an electric starter with a recoil backup starter.

    Quad 2009 ATV Buyers Guide 2009

  • One of the most important things on a mud quad is aggressive, oversized tires.

    Get The Lift You Need To Survive In The Mud! EnricoPavia 2009

Comments

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  • In current UK politics the quad is the group of the four politicians David Cameron and George Osborne (Conservative) and Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander (Liberal Democrat) that directs the policy of the coalition that constitutes the UK government.

    March 18, 2012