slot
1 Americannoun
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a narrow, elongated depression, groove, notch, slit, or aperture, especially a narrow opening for receiving or admitting something, as a coin or a letter.
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a place or position, as in a sequence or series.
The program received a new time slot on the broadcasting schedule.
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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.
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an assignment or job opening; position.
I applied for the slot in management training.
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Journalism.
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the interior opening in a copy desk, occupied by the chief copy editor.
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the job or position of chief copy editor.
He had the slot at the Gazette for 20 years.
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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.
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Informal. slot machine.
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Aeronautics. slat12
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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.
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Ice Hockey. an unmarked area near the front of an opponent's goal that affords a vantage for an attacking player.
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Computers. expansion slot.
verb (used with object)
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slots,
present (3rd person singular)
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slotted,
past participle, past
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slotting
present participle
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to provide with a slot or slots; make a slot in.
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to place or fit into a slot.
We've slotted his appointment for four o'clock.
verb (used without object)
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slots,
present (3rd person singular)
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slotted,
past participle, past
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slotting
present participle
noun
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the track or trail of a deer or other animal, as shown by the marks of the feet.
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a track, trace, or trail of something.
noun
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an elongated aperture or groove, such as one in a vending machine for inserting a coin
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an air passage in an aerofoil to direct air from the lower to the upper surface, esp the gap formed behind a slat
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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
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informal a place in a series or scheme
verb
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(tr) to furnish with a slot or slots
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to fit or adjust in a slot
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informal to situate or be situated in a series or scheme
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slotsimple
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slotssimple
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have slottedperfect
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has slottedperfect
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am slottingprogressive
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are slottingprogressive
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is slottingprogressive
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have been slottingperfect progressive
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has been slottingperfect progressive
Past
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slottedsimple
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had slottedperfect
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was slottingprogressive
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were slottingprogressive
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had been slottingperfect progressive
Future
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
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."
Vocabulary lists containing slot
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
After all, after starting in the slot, Feaster took it upon himself to start learning the outside receiver spot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
The other draw for players: claw machines leverage some of the exact same cognitive hooks as slot machines, said Elliot Ludvig, a University of Warwick psychology professor who studies rewards-based decision-making.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Every exercise machine in the gym had a slot to connect your iPod directly to a personalized sound system.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
For a moment, Taylor Detector is an exceptionally boring slot machine.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
After supper Mick Kelly showed up with her little brother and put a nickel into the slot machine.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Child-care nonprofits are taking advantage of declining enrollment at TK-12 schools to turn vacant classrooms and even closed campuses into child-care hubs, expanding scarce infant and toddler slots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
But once followers get a handle on things and get one month ahead, the answers sort of become slots on a change-sorting machine.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Dropping below that begins to reduce the number of ESC slots available.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The Administration estimates its deregulation could save as much as $2.2 billion a year and add as many as 236,000 slots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The tubes were tucked into individual slots inside small canvas pouches hand-sewn by a local Baltimore woman.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Luz Mary Gonzalez, a teacher, sat on the ground with a dozen more volunteers, writing messages of solidarity to be slotted into donation boxes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The Phillies slotted him in at cleanup Tuesday, where he scored a run and drove in two more in a 5-0 win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The ecosystem does not wait for evidence; it constructs a narrative framework into which evidence, if it ever appears, can be slotted later.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
His novels can be slotted into some mystery/thriller subcategories — “Blacktop Wasteland” is a heist novel, “Razorblade Tears” a revenge thriller, “All the Sinners Bleed” a police procedural.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
It soared a hundred feet above us, smooth along its bottom half, slotted along the upper half to catch the wind, with little spade-shaped ornaments at the top.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
“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
It’s an admirable acknowledgement of those behind the scenes, slotting film reels into the Dryden’s 75-year-old projectors, summoning shimmering worlds before our eyes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
And the finish did not disappoint, with Van de Ven slotting the ball past goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski, before being mobbed by jubilant team-mates having scored one of the great Champions League goals.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
