Pad Explained

Pad or pads may refer to:

Wearables

Pads, protective equipment used in baseball, cricket, and hockey
Menstrual pad, used to absorb menstrual or other vaginal blood
Incontinence pad, worn to absorb involuntarily expelled bodily fluids
Shoulder pads (fashion), fabric-covered padding in clothing
Cycling pad, found in cycling shorts, pants and tights

Computing and electronics

Input devices

Gamepad, joypad, or controller, an input device used in gaming
Graphics pad, a computer input device
Keypad, buttons arranged in a block
Touchpad or trackpad, a pointing device featuring a tactile sensor
Trigger pad, an electronic sensor on a drum

Other hardware

Contact pad, the designated surface area for an electrical contact
A resistive pad used in an attenuator
An electronic notebook
A tablet computer
GRiDPad, known as first commercial tablet computer
iPad, a tablet computer made by Apple
ThinkPad, a laptop brand first designed and produced by IBM, but now owned by Lenovo
WatchPad, discontinued IBM smartwatch line
WorkPad, discontinued line of PDA, branded by IBM

Other uses in computing and electronics

One-time pad, a method of cryptography

Transportation

Brake pad, part of a drum brake
Launch pad, an area where spacecraft start flight
Helicopter landing pad
Roll way or running pad, placed along the rails of metro or tram tracks

Music

Pad, some holes of woodwind instruments (clarinets, saxophones...) are closed by air-tight pads.
Soft, mellow timbres generated by synthesisers are often called pads, and are generally used as backing sounds.

Other uses

Part of a mammal's paw
Pad, Roane County, West Virginia
A paper notebook
San Diego Padres, a Major League Baseball team nicknamed the "Pads"

See also