Dictionary

slot en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /slɒt/ (UK)
• /slɑt/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment of a page or part of a device that represents it.

Meanings

1. A narrow depression, perforation, or aperture; especially, one for the reception of a piece fitting or sliding into it.
   • insert tab A into slot B
2. A period of time or position within a schedule or sequence.
   • With a strong finish he ended up in the third-ranked slot overall.
   • I've booked your haircut for the 2 p.m. slot.
3. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, especially, in-plural, informal) Clipping of slot machine (“a game of chance played for money using a coin slot”).
   alt of slot machine
   • I walked past the poker tables and went straight to the slots.
4. The track of an animal, especially a deer; spoor.
   • Oh joy! the signs of life! the Deer Hath left his slot beside the way; The little Ermine now is seen White wanderer of the snow; […] And hark! the rosy-breasted bird, The Throstle of sweet song! 1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC:
   • One is from Hexamshire; he is wont to trace the Tynedale and Teviotdale thieves, as a bloodhound follows the slot of a hurt deer. 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:
   • The Huntsman by his slot, or breaking earth, perceaves 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, song 13 p. 216:
   • But by then Niënor had passed away like a wraith; and neither sight nor slot of her could they find, though they hunted far northward and searched for many days. 2007, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Tale of the Children of Húrin, page 212:
5. (qualifier:Antarctica) A crack or fissure in a glacier or snowfield; a chasm; a crevasse.
   • Brian's crevasse shot also needed additional detail, so we found a small slot on a tiny glacier above the Cove. 1991, Stephen Venables, Island at the Edge of the World, page 161:
   • By this time of winter the edge of the ice is rafted up in confused floes, and often reveals slots and fissures quite large enough to hold a young husky prisoner. 1963, John Mayston Béchervaise, Blizzard and Fire, page 111:
6. (slang) The vulva.
7. The allocated time for an aircraft's departure or arrival at an airport's runway.
8. A space in memory or on disk etc. in which a particular type of object can be stored.
   • The game offers four save slots.
9. In a flying display, the fourth position; after the leader and two wingmen.
10. (slang) The barrel or tube of a wave.
11. (qualifier:field hockey or ice hockey) A rectangular area directly in front of the net and extending toward the blue line.
12. The area between the last offensive lineman on either side of the center and the wide receiver on that side.
13. A channel opening in the stator or rotor of a rotating machine for ventilation and insertion of windings.
    • Valerie sighed with pleasure as her husband skillfully found her slot and inserted the head of his straining prick inside, then bucked its thick-stemmed length all the way up her sex-channel. 2006, Rod Waleman, The Stepdaughters, page 20:
    • She'd like him jammed into her slot, like him to crank into her and she didn't think ignition would be far off if he did. 2006, Shelby Reed, Madison Hayes, Love a Younger Man, page 165:
    • According to Pro Football Focus, Simmons, listed at 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, played at least 100 snaps at five positions — slot cornerback, edge rusher, linebacker and both safety spots — and finished with 16½ tackles for a loss, eight sacks, eight pass deflections and three interceptions. 2020 April 23, Ken Belson, Ben Shpigel, “Full Round 1 2020 N.F.L. Picks and Analysis”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2020:
14. The inside of the "rim" or semicircular copy desk, occupied by the supervisor of the copy editors.
    • The slot is not a glamorous job. It hasn't been discovered by Shubert Alley or the fiction magazines. To the cub reporter, eager for by-lines and self-expression, the whole copy desk looks like a backwater. 1940, LIFE, volume 8, number 17, page 111:
15. A fish that is within regulation size limits and hence can be caught and kept.

Forms

Antonyms

tab

Deriveds

slot time · save slot · slot-hound · credit card slot · graveyard slot · time slot · coin-in-the-slot · slot-loading disc drive · delay slot · slot pair · time-slot · slotlike · expansion slot · slot jockey · slot machine · slotless · coin slot · slotwise · death slot · T-slot · razor blade slot · slot-car · bean slot · penny slot · slot canyon · coin-slot · slotback · multislot · razor slot · God slot · nickel-in-the-slot · slot racing · slot car · penny-in-the-slot machine

Translations (53)

fi rako (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · it pista (the track of an animal) · de Startfenster (allocated time for an aircraft's departure or arrival) · es muesca (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · es ranura (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · uk щі́лина (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · ca ranura (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · pt fenda (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · gl fenda (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · ru отве́рстие (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · ru щель (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · gl entalla (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · pt faixa horária (allocated time for an aircraft's departure or arrival) · pt abertura (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · gl verea (the track of an animal) · es redendija (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · bg цепнатина (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · gl fesga (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · fr fente (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · da rille (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · gl gargalo (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · pt ranhura (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · it fessura (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · de Nut (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · uk шпари́на (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · gl xabre (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · da spor (the track of an animal) · ca escletxa (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · de Schlitz (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · bg следа (the track of an animal) · fi reikä (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · it scanalatura (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · es rehendija (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · bg прорез (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · mi kapiti (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · fi slotti (allocated time for an aircraft's departure or arrival) · fi varattu aika (allocated time for an aircraft's departure or arrival) · it orme (the track of an animal) · fr emplacement (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · da kærv (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · it traccia (the track of an animal) · gl vrea (the track of an animal) · fi luukku (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · es hendidura (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · fr créneau (allocated time for an aircraft's departure or arrival) · da revne (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · da sprække (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · bg пролука (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · fi aukko (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · ru слот (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · gl trocha (the track of an animal) · gl encaixe (narrow depression, perforation, or aperture) · fi jälki (the track of an animal)

wikipedia: slot

slot en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /slɒt/ (UK)
• /slɑt/ (US)

Etymology

From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment of a page or part of a device that represents it.

Meanings

1. To put something (such as a coin) into a slot (narrow aperture).
2. To assign something or someone into a slot (gap in a schedule or sequence).
3. To create a slot (narrow aperture or groove), as for example by cutting or machining.
4. To put something where it belongs.
   • And Stamford Bridge erupted with joy as Florent Malouda slotted in a cross from Drogba, who had stayed just onside. 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:
5. (Rhodesia, UK, qualifier:sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth, slang) To kill.
   • One young soldier told me he couldn't bear to shoot the wild game in Rhodesia, but he had no trouble "slotting" floppies. "The more I kill," he said, "the better I feel. They're ruining everything for us." 1978 Spring, Collins Reynolds, editor, The Bridge, volume 3, number 1, Center for Research and Education, page 31:
   • They fired into the air on automatic and I thought, here we go, all I need is for one of these rounds to come down and slot me through the head. 2013, Andy McNab, Bravo Two Zero: The 20th Anniversary Edition, page 184:
   • Two males and a female from Northern Ireland had been identified, tracked and 'slotted'. 2012, Davy Thompson, Uniforms and Boats, page 59:
6. (qualifier:Antarctica) To fall, or cause to fall, into a crevasse.
   • I'd have to avoid getting slotted, especially as I didn't know which danger it was, but I thought I could guess. 2012, Hazel Edwards, Antarctica's Frozen Chosen:
   • The D-4s being heavy vehicles, were in difficulties with crevasses right from the start. At one stage Wood said cheerfully, "Let's give the game away after we get a D-4 slotted one more time", expecting just to get a track break through over a hole. The next minute his machine with him in it disappeared from sight — the tail and the tip of the blade caught and held a little way down the bottomless hole. Reiffel brought his D-4 around on the ice with the big machine picking its way between slots like a ballet dancer, and after a lot of work with ice axes, the slotted machine was hauled out. 1967 June, “Australians' Autumn Journeys Have Perilous Moments”, in Antarctic, volume 4, number 10, New Zealand Antarctic Society, pages 503–504:
7. (informal, qualifier:Australian rules football) To kick the ball between the posts for a goal; to score a goal by doing this.

Forms

Deriveds

deslot · slot in · slotter · slotting machine · unslot · reslot · slotback · slottable · mail slot

Relateds

sluice · close

wikipedia: slot

slot en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /slɒt/ (UK)
• /slɑt/ (US)

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”)).

Meanings

1. A broad, flat, wooden bar, a slat, especially as used to secure a door, window, etc.
2. A metal bolt or wooden bar, especially as a crosspiece.
3. (Northern-England, Scotland) An implement for barring, bolting, locking or securing a door, box, gate, lid, window or the like.
4. (obsolete) A fort or castle.
   • Thou paydst for building of a slot, That wrought thine own decay. 1578, Barnabe Rich, Allarme to England:

Forms

Translations (16)

ru задви́жка (wooden bar for fastening door) · fi telki (broad bolt or bar, crosspiece) · da lamel (broad bolt or bar, crosspiece) · ru запо́р (wooden bar for fastening door) · bg резе (wooden bar for fastening door) · cmn 門閂 /门闩 (wooden bar for fastening door) · ru щеко́лда (wooden bar for fastening door) · it sbarra (broad bolt or bar, crosspiece) · cmn 门闩 (wooden bar for fastening door) · ru засо́в (wooden bar for fastening door) · bg напречник (broad bolt or bar, crosspiece) · fr barre (wooden bar for fastening door) · de Türriegel (wooden bar for fastening door) · da liste (broad bolt or bar, crosspiece) · fi telki (wooden bar for fastening door) · it chiavistello (wooden bar for fastening door)

wikipedia: slot

slot en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /slɒt/ (UK)
• /slɑt/ (US)

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”)).

Meanings

1. (Northern-England, Scotland, obsolete) To bar, bolt or lock a door or window.
2. (UK, dialectal, obsolete, transitive) To shut with violence; to slam.
   • to slot a door

Forms

wikipedia: slot