slot

/slɒt/

//slɒt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"slot" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“slot” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,184. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,184
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A narrow depression, perforation, or aperture; especially, one for the reception of a piece fitting or sliding into it.

Corpus desk

Index EN-slot · slot · English

slot · rank #6,184 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,184
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH skull

Nearest frequency peer: skull (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “slot”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “slot” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

slot vs so
50% similar
slot vs son
50% similar
slot vs sox
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for slot
PropertyValue
Headwordslot
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/slɒt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#6,184
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “slot” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).slotlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “skull” (#6,183), “smash” (#6,185), “should've” (#6,182). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around slot (IPA /slɒt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,184 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 15 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for slot, with forms such as "sllot", "slott", and "slto". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "so", "son", "sox", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment o… The correct English form is slot, spelled S-L-O-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A narrow depression, perforation, or aperture; especially, one for the reception of a piece fitting or sliding into it.
  2. 2
    A period of time or position within a schedule or sequence.
  3. 3
    Clipping of slot machine (“a game of chance played for money using a coin slot”).
  4. 4
    The track of an animal, especially a deer; spoor.
  5. 5
    A crack or fissure in a glacier or snowfield; a chasm; a crevasse.
  6. 6
    The vagina.
  7. 7
    The allocated time for an aircraft's departure or arrival at an airport's runway.
  8. 8
    A space in memory or on disk etc. in which a particular type of object can be stored.
  9. 9
    In a flying display, the fourth position; after the leader and two wingmen.
  10. 10
    The barrel or tube of a wave.
  11. 11
    A rectangular area directly in front of the net and extending toward the blue line.
  12. 12
    The area between the last offensive lineman on either side of the center and the wide receiver on that side.
  13. 13
    A channel opening in the stator or rotor of a rotating machine for ventilation and insertion of windings.
  14. 14
    The inside of the "rim" or semicircular copy desk, occupied by the supervisor of the copy editors.
  15. 15
    A fish that is within regulation size limits and hence can be caught and kept.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how slot appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. insert tab A into slot B
  2. I've booked your haircut for the 2 p.m. slot.

Etymology

From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment of a page or part of a device that represents it.

This word in other languages

ranura(Español)emplacement(Français)Schlitz(Deutsch)fenda(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sllot
  • slott
  • slto
  • solt
  • sslot

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of slot - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

sllot1slott1slto2solt2sslot1
Edit distance from "slot"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "slot"?
"slot" is spelled S-L-O-T. The IPA pronunciation is /slɒt/.
What does "slot" mean?
As a noun, "slot" means: A narrow depression, perforation, or aperture; especially, one for the reception of a piece fitting or sliding into it.
What words are commonly confused with "slot"?
"slot" is commonly confused with "so", "son", "sox". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "slot"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slot" is /slɒt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "slot"?
From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "slot", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

riot#6,174Todd#6,194mice#6,166wont#6,202

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

jets5 variantscoke5 variantssang5 variantspets5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "slot". Here's where to go from here.

  • "slot" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "so". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #6,184 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list