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quad out

C1 formal inseparable transitive
In simple words

In old-fashioned printing, to fill the empty space at the end of a line with blank blocks so the line looks neat and even.

Literal meaning: To fill out a line using quad (blank spacing) blocks in traditional typesetting.

Meanings

1 C1 formal

In typography, to fill the remaining space at the end of a line with blank quad spaces so that the line is complete.

"The typesetter was told to quad out the last line of each chapter so that the layout looked uniform."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

Highly specialized printing and typesetting term. A 'quad' in typography is a blank metal block (or space) used to fill lines. 'Quad out' means to insert these blanks to fill out a short line. Largely historical now, as digital typesetting handles spacing automatically. Very rarely encountered outside specialist printing contexts.

Commonly used with

line type text column page space

Forms

Base
quad out
I/you/we/they
3rd person
quads out
he/she/it
Past simple
quaded out
yesterday
Past participle
quaded out
have + pp
-ing form
quading out
continuous

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