The slot (also known as the notch, throat, or gap) is a narrow opening in the primaries of some birds that helps to maintain a flow of air over the wings during flight. It can also refer to a groove or notch in a wood piece. In ice hockey, it can refer to the space in front of an opponent’s goal that is difficult to defend and often affords an attacking player a vantage point.

A slot machine is a gambling device operated by dropping coins or tokens into a slot and pulling a handle or pushing a button to spin one or more reels, which are marked into horizontal segments by different symbols. Traditional symbols include stars, card suits, bars, and various pictured fruits, including cherries, plums, oranges, lemons, and watermelons, as well as the words jackpot and bar.

Slot-machine research is a subfield of behavioral economics that focuses on the design and evaluation of gambling machines and the behavior of players using them. The aim of the field is to understand what makes a slot game enjoyable for players and how to create games that attract and retain players. This research is typically conducted by companies like ReelMetrics and SG Digital, and it involves hands-on experience playing actual slots games.