What Is a Slot?

A slot is an assigned time and place for a plane to take off or land, as authorized by airports and air-traffic controllers. BigQuery dynamically ensures that queries have the capacity they need to run, re-evaluating their schedules and allocating and pausing slots as needed.

You’ve checked in, gone through security, found your gate, queued for the boarding door and settled back into your seat. You are finally in your slot — the fourth row from the front of the plane, right next to the captain’s window.

A slit or narrow opening for receiving something, especially money or a ticket. Also: (in computer games) a position or spot on a reel that receives a particular symbol; a payline. Symbols vary by game, but classic symbols include fruits, bells, and stylized lucky sevens. Some slots have a theme, such as a movie or a TV show.

The first electromechanical slot machine, developed by Bally in 1963 and called Money Honey, eliminated the need for a side lever. It was a huge success, leading to the widespread adoption of electronic machines that allowed larger jackpots and more varied payouts. Manufacturers used electronics to weight particular symbols on a multiple-reel display, so that they would appear more or less frequently depending on their relative value. A “slot” can also refer to a number of other components on a computer, such as an ISA (industry standard architecture), PCI (peripheral component interconnect) or AGP (accelerated graphics port) slot.