A narrow notch or groove, as in a keyway, a slit for a coin in a machine, etc.:

A slot (plural slots) is a game that requires players to place wagers by inserting cash or, in “ticket-in, ticket-out” machines, paper tickets with barcodes. A random number generator (RNG) then determines the odds of a winning combination of symbols displayed on a reel or screen. The appearance of winning symbols on the payline earns credits according to a paytable. Many slot games have a theme and may tie-in with popular music, television or movie franchises.

In hockey, the slot is the area in front of the goaltender and between the face-off circles in the offensive zone. The slot is important because it gives the puck the most chance to reach the net. Consequently, teams that employ players with good speed and agility in the slot have an advantage over opponents.

Slot-based scheduling is a process that allows professionals to track deadlines and work objectives throughout the day. It is especially useful when there are multiple, urgent deadlines to meet and can help ensure that projects are completed on time. For example, software developers often use slot-based schedules when they are tracking different components of a project with varying due dates. When a query’s capacity demands change, BigQuery automatically re-evaluates the availability of the required time slots, re-allocating and pausing them as necessary. This ensures that each query has enough resources to complete its work without affecting other queries’ capacity.