A slot is a narrow opening into which something can be fitted. A door, for example, has a slot where a lock fits into it. A slot can also refer to a position in a list, as in “the slot near the top https://kerr4kids.com/ of the page.” The term may even be used to describe a certain type of car or airplane engine, depending on its size and shape. A slot is sometimes also a reference to a position in a team’s playing formation.
If you’re an avid slot player, you know how important it is to check the pay table before playing a game. The pay table will tell you everything you need to know about a particular slot, including how much you can win for landing matching symbols on a payline. In some cases, the pay table is displayed as a visual chart that shows how the symbols should land to trigger a winning combination.
Slot is the term that describes the operation issue and data path machinery surrounding a set of one or more execution units (also called functional units or FUs) in a VLIW computer. The term is used in contrast to the more general notion of a pipeline, which refers to the entire computer. A slot is usually referred to in the context of very long instruction word (VLIW) computers, although it can be used in other contexts as well.
The term slot comes from the fact that a piece of metal or wood can be screwed into it. This allows the piece to be tightened and secured, preventing it from coming loose or falling out. The name is also used to refer to a narrow passage in an airplane, ship or train, which is used for ventilation and emergency exits.
In football, a slot receiver is a receiver who lines up close to the quarterback on pass plays. This position requires speed and agility, as the slot receiver must run routes that require evasion and elusion in order to avoid being tackled by defenders. Slot receivers also play a role in running plays, as they are required to block for the ball carrier.
The earliest sense of slot is attested from the early 1420s (as “a narrow opening into which something can be fitted”). A sense of “place in a schedule or timetable” is recorded by 1919, and the meaning as “position on a machine” is from 1927. The sense in which the word is most often used today, however, is as a reference to the location of a coin or token in a slot machine. The name is a portmanteau of the Dutch words sleutel (“slot”) and huijs (“door”). It is also related to the Old High German slutila, from Proto-Germanic *slutila- (source also of German slutzel, sloz, and Dutch sluiten). This is distinct from the earlier use of slot as a metaphor for a hole in something solid, such as a door or wall.