A narrow, elongated depression or opening, especially one for receiving or admitting something. A coin dropped into a slot on a machine activates it. The new program received a time slot on the broadcasting schedule.
A game in which players place bets and watch reels spin and stop to reveal winning combinations of symbols. Modern casino slots often feature a variety of bonus features, such as scatter and wild symbols, cascading reels, free spins, and jackpots. In addition to their visual appeal, many slot games also incorporate interesting stories or themes to keep players engaged.
The earliest slot machines, invented in the 19th century by New York inventors Sittman and Pitt, had five drums with a total of 50 playing card symbols. When a specific combination lined up, the machine paid out prizes in drinks or cigars. But morality and the clergy were opposed to their operation, and in the 1920s and ’30s laws passed in several states banned them except for use in private social clubs. San Francisco mechanic Charles Fey, however, developed a more efficient machine with a single spinning reel and fewer symbols, which was eventually called the Liberty Bell.
Air traffic controllers reserve “slots” for planes to take off and land at busy airports, preventing the repeated delays that result from too many flights trying to land or take off simultaneously. They also assign a specific time for each planned aircraft operation, and they must adhere to these allocations in order to avoid disrupting air traffic.