A slot is a narrow aperture or gap in which something can be inserted. It is usually a rectangular area in a wall or door, and it can be lined with wood or metal strips. A slot may also refer to a position in an org chart, the name of a job description, or any other type of assigned space.

The word slot can also refer to a position on a team, for example the slot in the back of a defensive line or the slot in an ice hockey forward position. A slot is sometimes used in reference to a specific type of game, such as a video poker machine or a slot car. The word is also commonly used in reference to a computer hardware component that supports multiple slots for memory cards.

In a slot machine, a reel is turned to select a payline and activate symbols. Symbols vary in different games, but classic symbols include fruits and bells. Each slot machine has a theme, and symbols align with the theme to give players a sense of direction and increase their chances of winning. The slot machine industry is dominated by a few large companies, which have merged with other gaming technology companies to produce advanced and interactive slot machines.

Digital technology has allowed manufacturers to add more complex features to slot machines, but they still work the same way as their mechanical counterparts. In addition to expanding the number of paylines, microprocessors in modern slot machines can weight individual symbols differently. This gives the appearance that a particular symbol appears frequently on a payline when, in fact, the odds of it appearing are very low.

The term slot can also be applied to an allocation of time for a flight, which is based on an airline’s agreement with the airport or air-traffic control authority. A time slot is the allocated, scheduled position for a plane to take off or land.

Slot can also be used as a verb, referring to the action of slotting something into a place or position: The book was slotted into its shelf. She slotted the filter into the machine.

In computing, a slot is a dynamic placeholder that either waits for content (a passive slot) or is called upon by a scenario to supply it (an active slot). Slots are managed by the framework and can be filled with a variety of different types of objects, including images, text, and tables. A slot can be formatted with a template to display it in a certain way, or it can be left blank to be filled in by the renderer. In either case, the slot’s name should be clearly labelled to avoid confusion. For example, a slot that displays images should be named Image slot.