punch card

• Tarjeta de papel o cartón rígido con agujeros perforados en posiciones determinadas para representar datos, utilizada históricamente en las primeras máquinas de computación y procesamiento de datos.

A piece of stiff paper or cardstock with holes punched in specific positions to represent data, used historically in early computing and data processing machines.

1. Data storage mediumC1formal

   A piece of stiff paper that stores digital data through the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions, used historically for data input and storage.

   tarjeta perforada

   • Early computers used punch cards to store programs and data.
   • The operator fed a stack of punch cards into the reader.
   • Punch cards were a common method for data entry in the 1960s and 1970s.

2. Time tracking toolB2formal

   A card used to record the time an employee starts and ends work, often used with a time clock.

   tarjeta de fichaje

   • He swiped his punch card when he arrived at the factory.
   • The company replaced punch cards with a digital time-tracking system.
   • She forgot to insert her punch card into the time clock.