A narrow depression, groove, or slit, especially one for receiving something, as a keyway in a door or a slot for a coin in a machine. Also, a position or place in a group, series, sequence, etc. He took a slot at the back of the line for the tickets. The train left its next stop at the 5 o’clock slot.

A short period of time in which something is scheduled to occur, such as the 2 o’clock slot for haircuts at the salon.

The slots available for flights at a busy airport are limited, so a flight must be cleared for a specific slot before it can depart. This helps avoid repeated delays caused by too many planes trying to take off or land at the same time.

In video games, a slot is a small opening in the game screen where a character can be placed to advance the story or unlock new areas. In the early years of computer gaming, slots were referred to as punch cards or teletypes. Modern video games often use graphical slots to represent characters and locations.

At casinos, a slot is an area of the casino floor that houses the majority of games. The number of slots depends on the size of the casino and the type of game being played. Each slot has a unique payout schedule and symbols. Some slots are progressive, with a jackpot that grows over time. Others are stand-alone machines with a fixed jackpot amount.

The most popular type of slot is the three-reel mechanical machine. Invented in the 19th century by Charles Fey, these machines allow multiple symbols to align on a payline and can be found throughout Las Vegas and other gambling venues. The machines are famous for their ease of play and generous winnings, but are also subject to fraud and cheating.

More recent casino innovations have included microprocessors in slot machines that allow manufacturers to program each reel to have a different probability of having a particular symbol appear on it. This has changed the odds of hitting a winning combination, making it appear that a particular symbol is “so close” when it may actually be quite far away from the payline. Players can find the odds for each machine by checking the pay tables or help screens, which are usually accessible through a ‘help’ button or ‘i’ on the touch screen, or asking a slot attendant.