I. ˈslät, usu -äd.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle Dutch; akin to Old Frisian & Old Norse slot lock, bolt, Old High German sloz lock, bolt, sliozan to lock, close — more at close
1. dialect England : a bolt or bar for fastening a door
2. dialect England : slat
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French esclot
1. chiefly Scotland : a hollow or depression ; specifically : the hollow running down the middle of the breast
2.
a. : a long and narrow opening or groove : slit , notch
deliver mail through a slot in a door
the musket slots in the fort's hand-hewn walls — J.H.Cutler
information is coded by cutting slots between adjacent vertical perforations — H.C.Zeisig & P.T.Martin
spanner wrenches are made with one or two pins to fit into the holes or slots of nuts, collars, sealing rings — T.G.Thompson & R.A.Peterson
a coin slot in a vending machine
b. : a narrow passage, enclosure, or space
a slot between islands
they sat close together … in their slot between the stacked, rattling ration boxes — Fred Majdalany
: a small open compartment : pigeonhole
c. : a passage of spanwise extent through an airplane wing located usually near the leading edge and formed between a main and an auxiliary airfoil for improving the flow conditions over the wing at high angles of attack and thus increasing lift and delaying the stalling of the wing
3. : a depression in the surface of an armature or stator of a dynamo-electric machine into which a portion of the winding is placed
4.
a. : a place or a position in an organization, series, sequence, list, or program : niche
athletes for athletic slots on college teams — A.E.Lumley
the chairman's slot
her name was switched to the “contributing editors” slot on the masthead — Time
a TV show in the seven-o'clock slot
b. : the dealer's position in a gambling game
c.
(1) : the position occupied by the copy editor on the inside of a horseshoe-shaped copydesk — compare rim
(2) : the position of copy editor
5. slang : slot machine
III. transitive verb
( slotted ; slotted ; slotting ; slots )
1. : to cut a slot in : cut or shape by means of a slotting machine
abrasive wheel … for cutting off or slotting any material — K.B.Lewis
2. : to provide with slots
the walls of the convent … were slotted for machine guns — Laurence Critchell
a slotted collar
3. : to pass through a slot
velvet ribbon slotted through strands of wool — Women's Wear Daily
: put into a slot
IV. noun
( plural slot )
Etymology: Middle French esclot horse's hoofprint, track, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse slōth track
1. : the track of an animal (as a deer)
2. : trail
V. transitive verb
: to follow the trail of : track
VI. noun
1. : a gap between an end and a tackle in an offensive line in football
2. : the area directly in front of the goal in ice hockey
scored on a shot from the slot