slot
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.a long, narrow hole that you put something into, like a coin in a machine.
n.a narrow aperture or perforation designed to receive a corresponding part or a coin.
Simple“He dropped a few coins into the slot and waited for the machine to start.”
In context“The technician carefully aligned the memory card with the internal slot before applying gentle pressure to secure it.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a specific time when something is planned to happen in a schedule.
n.an allocated period of time within a schedule or sequence.
Simple“The band has a thirty-minute slot at the music festival this afternoon.”
In context“The talk show host struggled to find a suitable time slot for the interview given the politician's demanding campaign schedule.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
n.a specific time given to a plane for taking off or landing.
n.the specific time window allocated for an aircraft's departure or arrival at an airport.
Simple“The pilot warned that if they missed their takeoff slot, they would be delayed for hours.”
In context“Due to heavy fog over the channel, several international flights missed their arrival slots, causing significant congestion at the terminal.”
Synonyms - 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a machine in a casino that you play by putting money in a hole.
n.a coin-operated gambling machine that pays out based on the alignment of symbols on rotating reels.
Simple“She spent the evening playing the slots at the casino but didn't win much.”
In context“The casino floor was filled with the mechanical ringing of slots as tourists tried their luck at the jackpot.”
Synonymsfruit machineone armed bandit - 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to put something into a narrow space or a schedule.
v.to place or fit something into a designated aperture or a specific position in a sequence.
Simple“You can slot the new battery into the back of the camera.”
In context“The manager managed to slot the extra training session into the Tuesday afternoon programme without cancelling any existing meetings.”
- 06 C1 Advanced
v.to kick or hit a ball accurately into a goal.
v.to successfully score a goal by placing the ball accurately into the net or between posts.
Simple“He managed to slot the ball into the corner of the net in the final minute.”
In context“The striker showed remarkable composure as he slotted the penalty home, securing a vital victory for his team.”
“The first batch of tickets, which are sold out, were for slots between September and December.”
“Raúl Jiménez slots home his penalty for Wolves in stoppage time.”
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.
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”)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.