Pad

Pad or PAD can be either a word, an abbreviation or a three letter acronym.

Pad

• A keypad is a set of buttons which usually bear digits (numpad)
• A Gamepad or joypad for a computer or console
• A paper tablet
• Part of an animal paw
• A bachelor pad
• An abbreviation for maxi pad, sanitary napkin (US), or "towel" (UK)
• Launch pad, in rocketry, the platform from which an orbital vehicle is launched
• Helipad, for helicopters
• One of the transliterations of the fourth syllable in the Buddhist six syllable mantra Om mani padme hum

Protective gear

• Elbow pads
• Hip pads
• Knee pads
• Shoulder pads
• Pads (in baseball, cricket, and hockey)

Electronics

• In electronics manufacturing, a flat surface used to make electrical contact. A special case is bonding pads, to which components are soldered
• In audio and RF electronics, an attenuator
• Pressure pad, sensitive to pressure
• The iPad is a tablet released by Apple Inc.

Music

• Pad button, found on some mixing consoles, used for lowering input gain
• Synth pad, in electronic music, is a sound (timbre), which is a harmonic background sound
• electronic drum pad

Computing

• A graphics pad, another term for a graphics tablet.
• Word-processing programs such as Notepad and WordPad
• Mousepad, a pad/mat used in computing for a mouse
• Pad field, in networking, part of the ethernet frame that fills in the data field (if necessary) to ensure that it meets the minimum length (64 bytes)

City Planning

• PAD stands for Planned Area Development, meaning originally approved permitted uses

PAD

• Packet Assembler/Disassembler, an interface that connects an asynchronous terminal to an X.25 network
• Paderborn Lippstadt Airport's airport code
• Payphone Antifraud Device, an electronic circuit that monitors the telephone line connected to a payphone
• People's Alliance for Democracy, political group in Thailand
• Peripheral Artery Disease, the more common form of PVD, a term for the condition of having poor circulation in the legs, less frequently arms
• Peter Allen David, a comic book writer
• Philemon Arthur and the Dung, a Swedish folk song duet
• Poker After Dark a late night poker television program on NBC
• Portable Application Description, a machine-readable document format for providing product descriptions and specifications
• Program Associated Data, usually data sent along with a high-definition radio program
• Punjab Archaeology Department
• Phi Alpha Delta, Law Fraternity
• The PAD control character in the C1 control code set
• Prithvi Air Defense, an anti-ballistic missile for high altitude interception

See also

• Paden, a Dutch word for "pad" meaning "path" (pad is singular, paden is plural)
• Padme
• One-time pad