A narrow depression, notch, groove, or opening, especially one for receiving something, such as a coin or a letter. Also, a period of time or position within a schedule or sequence: Her TV show is in the eight o’clock slot on Thursdays. A device or compartment for receiving a coin in a vending machine. The term is also used for a position in a deck of playing cards, a slit or hole through which money can be inserted into a slot machine, or the space on a computer motherboard that holds an expansion card. A slot may be filled or unfilled; for example, the player might not wish to gamble with all of their chips.

The amount of money a player can win in a slot machine is determined by the number of symbols that land on the payline, which is displayed to the player. These symbols can be grouped into combinations, such as a straight or a flush, and each combination has its own payout odds. Players should be sure to read the paytables before playing a slot machine and always check that the machine is compliant with state laws regarding the odds of winning.

In the scheduling (calendar) sense, a slot is a period of time during which an activity can take place. In many businesses, the term is also used for a unit of time in a day or week, for example the two-hour window when an appointment is available to be booked. A time slot might be booked weeks in advance, and the availability of this type of slot is usually indicated by a color or icon on the calendar.

To slot something into another is to place it there, or to put it into a space. The verb can also be used for movement within a game, for instance kicking the ball between the face-off circles in ice hockey.

In the Dialog Engine context, a slot is a container that either waits for content (passive slots) or calls out to get it (active slots). It is important to map each identified slot to a slot type so that Dialog Engine can recognize the right words and phrases. You can add synonyms for a slot type so that Dialog Engine recognizes multiple words and phrases when searching for a specific one. The example below shows how to enable synonyms for a slot type, in this case NYC, and the list of synonyms that are recognized when searching for this word. You can delete the synonyms by hovering over the word and clicking the X that appears.