slot

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small slit, as for inserting a coin or depositing mail

   I put a quarter in the slot.

2. 2
   noun

   a slot machine that is used for gambling

   they spend hours and hours just playing the slots

3. 3
   noun

   a socket in a microcomputer that will accept a plug-in circuit board

   The PC had three slots for additional memory.

4. 4
   noun

   a position in a grammatical linguistic construction in which a variety of alternative units are interchangeable

   I developed a version of slot grammar.

5. 5
   noun

   the trail of an animal, especially a deer

   I followed the deer's slot over the soft turf to the edge of the trees.

6. 6
   noun

   a position in a hierarchy or organization

   Bob Dylan occupied the top slot for several weeks

7. 7
   noun

   a time assigned on a schedule or agenda

   the TV program has a new time slot

8. 8
   verb

   assign a time slot

   slot a television program

Etymology

From Middle English slot, from Middle Low German slot or Middle Dutch slot, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *slot, from Proto-Germanic *slutą, related to the verb *sleutaną (“to lock”). Cognate with Dutch slot, German Schloss (“door-bolt”). The verb is probably from Middle Dutch sluten (“to close, to lock”) (Modern Dutch sluiten (“to close”)).