(adjective) A narrow opening or groove. (informal) To kick a ball through the slots of a goalpost in Australian rules football or rugby.

In the old days, you yanked the lever and either all the cherries or the lucky 7s lined up, or they didn’t. It was an all-or-nothing affair, which limited the payouts and the excitement. By the 2000s, better computer technology allowed casinos to offer much bigger jackpots, more exciting games and precise control over odds. And that is when slot machines really took off.

With the advent of video slot machines, symbols appear on a computer screen instead of mechanical reels and the machines are programmed to pay out only if the proper sequence of symbols appears on the machine’s pay line. The symbols on the pay table are listed above and below the reels, and are also displayed on the slot machine’s display. Some symbols are wild, which can substitute for other symbols to complete a winning line.

In American football, a slot receiver is a wide receiver who is used to run short routes on the route tree, such as slants and quick outs, especially when other more deep routes are well covered by the defense. These players are often fast and have excellent deep speed, which makes them useful to the offense. They can stretch the defense vertically with their speed, but are also effective at gaining yards after the catch by running shorter routes.