What is a Slot?
A narrow opening; a groove or slit. (Old English: sleutana; from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch slot, from Proto-Germanic *sluta, from Old Norse slod). A position in a sequence or schedule. (Also: time slot, berth, seat, billet, place, spot, window)
An area of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used to carry payloads. In air transport, a slot is usually a portion of the fuselage, and is located between the wings. A passenger can occupy the same seat in the same time slot every flight. A slot may also refer to the area in a computer memory that is used for holding data, or to a position in an operating system, which is usually associated with a file.
In computing, a slot is an empty or reserved space for an object. When an object is allocated a slot, the operating system may allocate resources to that object in the same way as if it were physically installed in the computer. A slot is a container for data that can be accessed by application programs and can be manipulated to perform certain operations on the object.
The word slot is also used figuratively, to describe an assigned place or position in a sequence or schedule: We scheduled our haircuts for the 2 p.m. slot.
A slot can also be a device for barring, bolting, or locking a door, gate, box, or lid. It can also be an aperture in a wall or roof that allows ventilation or the insertion of wires. (Old English: sleutana; Middle Low German and Middle Dutch slot, from Proto-Germanic *sluta,from Old Norse slod (“track”), cognate with German Schloss (“door-bolt”))
Mitre slots are machined into the main cast iron table of a table saw to be perfectly parallel to the blade. They are used to guide jigs such as the mitre gauge, and may be made plain or ‘T’ shaped. The ‘T’ shape is more versatile because it can be used to secure hardware that will clamp in place, such as a tenon jig or stop for precise cuts.
A T-slot table is an extended work surface for a universal testing machine that provides a convenient way to secure components and structures that cannot be held with standard grips, or that might eject from the test space during a tensile, compression, or flexural test. Commercially available T-slot nuts are inserted into the inverted T-slots on the table and bolted into place. The table may then be positioned to accommodate specimens for each test, or to keep the same specimen in the same location for repeat tests or batch testing of product.