A slit or other narrow opening, especially one for receiving something, such as a coin or letter. Also used to refer to a position in a series or sequence.
In computer hardware, a slot is an area of the motherboard where expansion cards can be inserted. These cards provide extra functionality to the system such as additional memory, audio and video cards, or graphics processing units. The slots on the motherboard are typically referred to as ISA, PCI and AGP slots.
When a slot is mentioned in the news, it often relates to gambling. Psychologists have found that people who play video poker and other slot machines reach debilitating levels of involvement with gambling three times more rapidly than those who engage in traditional casino games. In addition, a 60 Minutes report featured a woman who lost her home and career after spending over $90,000 on a single slot machine.
Sports
In football, a slot receiver lines up closer to the center than typical wideouts and is expected to be able to take hits because they are matched against linebackers rather than corners. They are often used on obvious passing downs and may be smaller and shifty players. The NFL is seeing a trend of teams using slot receivers more frequently as they look to gain an advantage in the modern spread offenses.