A narrow notch, groove, or opening, especially one for receiving something, as a keyway in a lock or a slit for coins in a machine. Also: a position or place in a sequence or schedule. The book fit into the slot on the shelf easily. He slipped into his new job.
In aviation, a time period during which an aircraft may be scheduled to take off or land at a busy airport, in order to avoid repeated conflicts of takeoffs and landings. The term is used in the United States and around the world to control air traffic and prevent delays caused by too many flights trying to depart or land at the same time.
A slot in a computer system, or the part of a program that allocates memory for use by an application. In programming, a scoped slot allows a function to access variables in child scopes.
The name of the game of a slot is an allusion to Charles Fey’s 1895 invention, the Liberty Bell slot machine, which had three spinning reels and symbols that lined up to make poker hands when a lever was pulled. Modern video slots, on the other hand, are much more complex, and can be played with a push of a button or a pull of a lever (depending on the machine). The machines are themed to appeal to specific audiences and offer features like wilds and scatters that add a lot to the winning potential.