a scheduled time for an aircraft to land or take off, as authorized by the airport or air-traffic controller. Also spelled slit, slitt, slite, and slot (def. 2).
A slot is also the term used for the notch in the tips of the primaries of some birds, which allows them to maintain a steady flow of air over their wings in flight. It is also the name of a narrow opening in an aircraft fuselage, usually near the front edge of the cockpit or windscreen.
In a slot machine, players insert cash or, in “ticket-in, ticket-out” machines, paper tickets with barcodes that can be scanned, into a designated slot and activate the reels by pressing a button (either physical or virtual). The symbols that appear on the reels are randomly selected. When a winning combination of symbols appears, the player earns credits according to the pay table. Most slot games have a theme and a set of symbols that represent that theme.
Before you play a slot, read its pay table to understand the rules and how much you can win. Typically, the pay table is shown as small tables with different colors that illustrate which symbols match together to form a winning combination. Also check the number of paylines – many slots have more than one, and you may want to look for a slot that offers multiple paylines to increase your chances of winning. The pay table will often explain how to adjust the minimum and maximum bet amount.