A punch card is a specially designed sheet of paper. This sheet of paper is usually divided into a grid, including the days of the week and when you have punched in or out. You must purchase punch cards to be used in conjunction with a punch time clock.

A paper medium used for recording computer-readable data. The card is punched by a special machine called a keypunch that works like a typewriter, except that it punches holes in cards instead of typing characters on paper. The punch cards are then processed with a card reader that transfers the punched information to a computer-readable digital format.

Punch card voting system. A system where votes are recorded by punches in voting response fields on a ballot card.

Invented for compiling the Census of 1890, an early means of encoding data for computers and other data processing equipment using a code made up of patterns of punched holes on a card.