slot

¹ American  

[slot] / slɒt /

noun

1. a narrow, elongated depression, groove, notch, slit, or aperture, especially a narrow opening for receiving or admitting something, as a coin or a letter.

2. a place or position, as in a sequence or series.

   The program received a new time slot on the broadcasting schedule.

3. Linguistics. (especially in tagmemics) a position having a specific grammatical function within a construction into which any one of a set of morphemes or morpheme sequences can be fit.

4. an assignment or job opening; position.

   I applied for the slot in management training.

5. Journalism.

   1. the interior opening in a copy desk, occupied by the chief copy editor.

   2. the job or position of chief copy editor.

      He had the slot at the Gazette for 20 years.

6. an allocated, scheduled time and place for an aircraft to take off or land, as authorized by an airport or air-traffic authority.

   40 more slots for the new airline at U.S. airports.

7. Informal. slot machine.

8. Aeronautics. slat12

9. Ornithology. a narrow notch or other similar opening between the tips of the primaries of certain birds, which during flight helps to maintain a smooth flow of air over the wings.

10. Ice Hockey. an unmarked area near the front of an opponent's goal that affords a vantage for an attacking player.

11. Computers. expansion slot.

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verb (used with object)

• slots,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slotted,
  past participle,  past
• slotting
  present participle

1. to provide with a slot or slots; make a slot in.

2. to place or fit into a slot.

   We've slotted his appointment for four o'clock.

verb (used without object)

• slots,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slotted,
  past participle,  past
• slotting
  present participle

1. to fit or be placed in a slot.

slot ² American  

[slot] / slɒt /

noun

1. the track or trail of a deer or other animal, as shown by the marks of the feet.

2. a track, trace, or trail of something.

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slot ¹ British  

/ slɒt /

noun

1. an elongated aperture or groove, such as one in a vending machine for inserting a coin

2. an air passage in an aerofoil to direct air from the lower to the upper surface, esp the gap formed behind a slat

3. a vertical opening between the leech of a foresail and a mast or the luff of another sail through which air spills from one against the other to impart forward motion

4. informal a place in a series or scheme

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verb

1. (tr) to furnish with a slot or slots

2. to fit or adjust in a slot

3. informal to situate or be situated in a series or scheme

slot ² British  

/ slɒt /

noun

1. the trail of an animal, esp a deer

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• slotter
  noun
• unslotted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• slotting
  present
• slotted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• slot
  simple
• slots
  simple
• have slotted
  perfect
• has slotted
  perfect
• am slotting
  progressive
• are slotting
  progressive
• is slotting
  progressive
• have been slotting
  perfect progressive
• has been slotting
  perfect progressive

Past

• slotted
  simple
• had slotted
  perfect
• was slotting
  progressive
• were slotting
  progressive
• had been slotting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will slot
  simple
• will have slotted
  perfect
• will be slotting
  progressive
• will have been slotting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of slot¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English: “hollow at the base of the throat above the breastbone,” from Old French esclot; further origin unclear

Origin of slot²

First recorded in 1565–75; from Anglo-French, Old French esclot “the hoofprint of a horse,” probably from Old Norse slōth “track, trail”; see also sleuthhound

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Explanation

A thin opening or groove in something is a slot. You can put letters and postcards through the mail slot at the post office. A gum ball machine has a slot for inserting a coin, and some front doors have a special slot for mail carriers to put mail in. A screwdriver fits neatly into the slot on top of a screw. Another kind of slot is a space in a schedule or calendar: "I have a half-hour slot on Thursday for our meeting." In the 14th century, a slot was "the hollow above the breastbone."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slot slots slotted slotting

Maresca seemed to slot in seamlessly after taking on the seemingly impossible job of replacing the legendary Pep Guardiola, but now needs to find solutions to City's stuttering form.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

Clay & Buck, after all, took over the time slot that was previously filled by Limbaugh, the OG microphone-as-megaphone gasbag.

From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026

Planners of events agonized over which of the two should be asked to make opening or closing remarks, wondering if either would view one slot as inferior to the other, one of the people said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

The other night, I gave them their own slot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

She gives me the key and I slot it into the padlock and turn it.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

“Many of the ad slots are now falling below the AI Overview, so a lot of people aren’t making it to that area,” Conner Crowe, a fractional marketing lead, told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026

USC admitted 12.6% of first-year applicants this fall for sought-after slots.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

For F1, with other countries also interested in slots on an already crowded schedule, that was too much to deal with.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Still, playing on club teams may be necessary to have a chance at those few slots.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Some found in the change slots of the lunchroom vending machines.

From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds

Prematurely balding, Stewart missed out on many of the young romantic leads but quickly slotted into theater life, joining the RSC in 1966 and staying there until 1982.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

We just slotted right in with each other.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Garcia-Leys said the plates could not be “used for a crime” or any other purpose unless they were slotted into a vest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

At the National Bank Open, held this year in Toronto, Canada, ticket sales for her opening round doubled the number of seats available in the venue she was slotted to play in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

If the new phrase has the same structure as the preceding one, its words can be slotted into the waiting tree, and the reader will absorb it effortlessly.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Newman said that slotting the lieutenant governor into the role of governor in the event of a recall would follow a precedent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

“I see him slotting into relief and being a two-or-three-inning guy,” Roberts said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Paul went on his podcast armed with a whiteboard, slotting James into various imaginary lineups around the NBA—Minnesota, Denver, and Philadelphia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Pushing Tom Banton or Jacob Bethell up to open and slotting Ahmed into the middle order would be a huge gamble backed up by little evidence.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026

I wasn’t interested in slotting myself into a passive role, waiting for Barack’s team to give me direction.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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Related Words

• channel
• groove
• hole
• niche
• position
• space
• vacancy

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