A narrow depression, notch, or opening, especially one that admits something, such as a keyway in machinery or a coin in a vending machine.
An authorization from an airport to take off or land at a specific time during a limited window, used in the United States and around the world to prevent repeated delays caused by too many planes trying to depart or land simultaneously.
In computing, a position in a container or array, such as a database table or a Web page that holds dynamic content. A slot can be either a placeholder that waits for content (a passive slot) or a trigger for that content (an active slot), and can be filled by a scenario that uses an Add Items to Slot action or a renderer.
The term slot has also come to mean a job, position, or assignment, such as a slot in an orchestra or a job in a newspaper. These usages are based on data programmatically collected from a wide variety of online sources and may reflect current usage in some contexts, but they do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
The word slot comes from the Latin slit or slot, which means a narrow opening or groove, as in the typewheel of a printing press in which letters are fitted. In this context, the slot is the only connexion between the screwhead S and the pin p (which engages in a cut in the wheel). The name also has been applied to the spaces or holes in the typewheel that receive these characters.