d-pad
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.99 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
3
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A plus-shaped directional input pad on a video game controller that allows for eight degrees of movement, now largely superseded by the thumbstick.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of d-pad.
Example Sentences
- "The strategy that has dominated recently for the last couple of years is to tap the d-pad as fast as humanly possible with one finger, known as hypertapping in the gaming community. In NES Tetris, this skill is crucial, since the speed increases when moving up levels, culminating in level 29, where the pieces usually drop to the bottom of the board in less than ⅓ of a second. However, hypertapping has several limitations."
- "Like the name implies, a hypertapping player simply presses left or right on the NES d-pad their desired number of times."
- "The first known way past the brick wall of Level 29 was a technique that became known as hypertapping. By using a special grip that lets you vibrate a finger over the D-pad directions at least 10 times a second, you can effectively skip the "delayed autoshift" (DAS) that limits how fast pieces can move laterally when the D-pad is held down."
Etymology
Shortened from directional pad.