slot1
- a narrow, elongated depression, groove, notch, slit, or aperture, especially a narrow opening for receiving or admitting something, as a coin or a letter.
- a place or position, as in a sequence or series: The program received a new time slot on the broadcasting schedule.
- 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.Compare filler(def 9).
- an assignment or job opening; position: I applied for the slot in management training.
- Journalism.
- the interior opening in a copy desk, occupied by the chief copy editor.
- the job or position of chief copy editor: He had the slot at the Gazette for 20 years.Compare rim(def 7).
- 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.
- Informal. slot machine(def 1).
- Aeronautics. See under slat1(def 2).
- 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.
- Ice Hockey. an unmarked area near the front of an opponent's goal that affords a vantage for an attacking player.
- Computers. expansion slot.
- to provide with a slot or slots; make a slot in.
- to place or fit into a slot: We've slotted his appointment for four o'clock.
- to fit or be placed in a slot.
Origin of slot1
Related Words
revealexpresspinpointshowsuggestsignalhintmarkproveimplyargueannouncedemonstrateillustratemakespecifymeanappointelectnominateExamples from the Web for slotting
Contemporary Examples
Two and a Half Men will move from Mondays to Thursdays this fall, slotting in at 8:30 p.m. behind The Big Bang Theory.
TV Upfronts 2012: NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and the CW Announce SchedulesJace Lacob, Maria Elena Fernandez
May 17, 2012
Historical Examples
A similar and perhaps a better result may be obtained by slotting the hole through the nut as though for the reception of a key.
It may be too small now; there is not enough metal to clean up under the tools of the slotting- or shaping-machine.
Life in a Railway FactoryAlfred Williams
It is very useful for slotting sheet brass and tubes, slotting small shafts, nicking screws, etc.
slot1
- an elongated aperture or groove, such as one in a vending machine for inserting a coin
- an air passage in an aerofoil to direct air from the lower to the upper surface, esp the gap formed behind a slat
- 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
- informal a place in a series or scheme
- (tr) to furnish with a slot or slots
- (usually foll by in or into) to fit or adjust in a slot
- informal to situate or be situated in a series or scheme
Word Origin
slot2
- the trail of an animal, esp a deer
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for slotting
slot
n.1
late 14c., "hollow at the base of the throat above the breastbone," from Old French esclot "hoofprint of a deer or horse," of uncertain origin, probably from Old Norse sloð "trail" (see sleuth). Original sense is rare or obsolete in Modern English; sense of "narrow opening into which something else can be fitted" is first recorded 1520s. Meaning "middle of the (semi-circular) copy desk at a newspaper," the spot occupied by the chief sub-editor, is recorded from 1917. The sense of "opening in a machine for a coin to be inserted" is from 1888 (slot machine first attested 1891). The sense of "position in a list" is first recorded 1942; verb sense of "designate, appoint" is from 1960s. Slot car first attested 1966.
slot
n.2
"bar or bolt used to fasten a door, window, etc.," c.1300, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German slot (cf. Old Norse slot, Old High German sloz, German Schloss "bolt, bar, lock, castle;" Old Saxon slutil "key," Dutch slot "a bolt, lock, castle"), from Proto-Germanic stem *slut- "to close" (cf. Old Frisian sluta, Dutch sluiten, Old High German sliozan, German schliessen "to shut, close, bolt, lock"), from PIE root *klau- "hook, peg" (cf. Greek kleis "key;" Latin claudere "to shut, close," clavis "key," clavus "nail;" see close (v.)). Wooden pegs seem to have been the original keys.
slot
v.2
1560s, "to bolt a door," from slot (n.2). Related: Slotted; slotting.
slot
v.1
1747, "provide with a slot, cut slots in," from slot (n.1). Meaning "drop a coin in a slot" is from 1888. Sense of "take a position in a slot" is from 1940; that of "fit (something) into a slot" is from 1966. Oldest sense is obsolete: "stab in the base of the throat" (c.1400). Related: Slotted; slotting.