A slot is a position within a series, sequence or set. A slot can also be a position of employment in an organization or company. In computing, a slot is a place to fit an expansion card with circuitry that provides additional capability such as video acceleration or disk drive control. Most desktop computers come with a set of slots for expansion cards.
A Slot is also the name of a feature in BigQuery that allows you to track work that requires immediate attention and support productivity by providing an overview of multiple deadlines throughout the day. Prioritizing work according to specific time blocks can help teams maintain focus and meet important goals. Using a slot-based schedule can help prioritize urgent tasks versus those that can be completed later in the day, helping to improve team productivity and organizational effectiveness.
Originally, in mechanical slot machines, each symbol appeared only once on each reel displayed to the player, limiting the number of possible combinations. However, as manufacturers incorporated electronics and programmed symbols to appear more frequently than others, the number of potential combinations increased. As a result, the odds of winning became disproportionate to the amount of money that could be won from the machine, even though it might seem like each spin was equally likely.
In ice hockey, the slot is the area in front of the goaltender and between the face-off circles in the offensive zone. Depending on the game, the term may also be used to describe a particular point in the zone, such as a shootout slot or a defensive slot.