A Quad

1. (letterpress typography) A blank metal block used to fill short lines of type.
2. (printing slang) A joke used to fill long days of setting type.
3. (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.

Synonyms

• em space
• quadrat (obsolete)