| 释义 |
▪ I. slot, n.1 Chiefly north. and Sc.|slɒt|
Also (4) 5–6 slotte, 5–7 (9) slott, and slote n.
[a. MDu. or MLG. slot (so Du. and LG.), = OHG. sloz (G. schloss) door-bolt, lock, from the weak grade of the stem *slūt-, sliut- to close (MDu. sluten, Du. sluiten; OHG. sliozan, G. schliessen).]
1. A bar or bolt used to secure a door, window, etc., when closed. Now dial.
a1300E.E. Ps. cvi. 16 He forgnod yhates,..And slottes irened brake he þare. c1340Nominale (Skeat) 471 Sere, veroil et cerrure, Barre, slot and stapul. 1391Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 108 In iij slottes ferri pro camp'is (?) figend. 3d. 1424–5Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 272, j fenestra in domo carbonum, cum j slott, j stapill. c1440Promp. Parv. 460/1 Slot, or schytyl of a dore, verolium. 1515Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. V. 13 Expensis..on lokkis, irne slottis, bandis of irne..for reparing and dichting of the palice. 1570Levins Manip. 176 Y⊇ Slot of a doore, pessulus. 1651Depos. York Castle (Surtees) 49 Who assaulted his house, attempting to break in by opening two slotts or boults. 1663in Scottish N. & Q. (1902) July 2 [They] did bring..ane number of yrons, bolts or slotts and caused put the samen vpon the doores. 1695Kennett Paroch. Antiq. Gloss. s.v. Slade, In Northumberland the slot of a door is the bolt. 1825–in many northern dialect glossaries. 1855Ainslie Land Burns (1892) 243 Our cadger..slippit in, Syne cannilie shot the muckle door slot. 1874J. Crawford Mem. Alloa 76 He drew the slot, an'..In..the stranger passed.
b. A bolt forming part of the mechanism of a lock.
1890W. A. Wallace Only a Sister? 325, I did my best to put back the slot of one of the locks.
2. A metal rod; a flat wooden bar, esp. one forming a cross-piece.
1399Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 133 In slot de ferro empto pro prædicto baner, 4d. c1400in Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy (1847) II. 444 Slot of iron [for the guns]. 1497Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 334, iij serpentinis gunnis..; with ilkane tua chameris, thair mykkis and thair slottis. 1542Extr. Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 185 Menzes and..Nicholsoune to be maisteris of the artillierie, and to provyd boolis, slottis, and all vder munitionis requirit thairto.
1788W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 353 Slot, any broad, flat wooden bar. 1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §1316 A bridge [in a cider-press]..is suspended at each end by two slots (cross bars) playing on a rim. 1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 336 Bridges formed of four or six rough trees, secured at their crossings by the cross-pieces (slots in carpentry). 1892Daily Telegr. 17 June 4/8 He noticed that the ‘slot’ worked from the next box was down.
b. spec. One of the cross-bars connecting the bulls of a harrow.
Occurs much earlier as slote: see slote n. 2.
1799Hull Advertiser 15 June 2/2 Timber. For sale,..harrow bulls and slots. 1808in Jamieson. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 527 Four longitudinal bars,..with four lighter transverse bars, or slots. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 359 The ‘slots’ or cross-pieces of thin ash.
▪ II. slot, n.2|slɒt|
Also 5–6 slote, 5, 8–9 slott.
[ad. OF. esclot in sense 1 (see examples in Godefroy, wrongly explained), of obscure origin.]
1. The slight depression or hollow running down the middle of the breast. Now Sc. and rare.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1330 Syþen þay slyt þe slot, sesed þe erber. Ibid. 1593 Þe mon..Set sadly þe scharp in þe slot euen, Hit hym vp to þe hult, þat þe hert schyndered. a1400Morte Arth. 2254 O-slante doune fro þe slote he slyttes at ones! c1400Destr. Troy 3063 The slote of hir slegh brest [was] sleght for to showe. 1741Compl. Fam. Piece i. i. 43 If a Child..has Pain in the Back, or Slot of the Breast. 1808Jamieson, Slot of the breast, the pit of the stomach; where the breast-bone slopes away on each side, leaving a hollow. a1904in Eng. Dial. Dict.
2. a. An elongated narrow depression or perforation made in the thickness of a piece of timber, etc., usually for the reception of some other part or piece, whether fixed or movable.
slot hole occurs earlier (1485) in this sense: see 7.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §4 At the ploughe-tayle, where be two wedges, that be called slote-wedges: the one is in the slote above the beame, the other in the saide slote, vnder the plough-beame. 1577Harrison England ii. xi. (1877) I. 227 A square blocke of wood.., which dooth ride vp and downe in a slot, rabet, or regall betweene two pieces of timber. 1747Hooson Miner's Dict. S iv, Formerly the Fork[s] were used to be Tennerd, and the Sills made with Slotts to put them in. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 435 The catch-box has a slot, fitting a feather on the spindle. 1850Chubb Locks & Keys 33 A brass guard, in which there was a slot for a pin to slide in. 1881Young Every Man his own Mechanic 76 Mortising machines and others for boring and making slots in timber.
b. The opening in a slot-machine for the reception of a coin. Also fig. Also (slang), a slot-machine.
1888Pall Mall G. 25 Sept. 5/1 ‘Drop a penny into the slot’ and you can..obtain a cigarette. 1893Times 28 Apr. 9/3 The Chancellor..has had recourse to the latest automatic invention, and has put a penny in the slot. 1950R. P. Bissell Stretch on River xiii. 135 The slots are going night and day. 1978M. Puzo Fools Die xviii. 197 The slots usually brought in a profit of about a hundred thousand dollars a week.
c. The middle of the semi-circular or horseshoe-shaped desk at which a newspaper's sub-editors work, occupied by the chief sub-editor. U.S. slang.
1917H. Grant Two Sides of Atlantic iii. 44 The man who ‘sits in the slot’ (the chief-sub.), will know for a certainty that the decision of ‘Bill’ to invade Windy City will automatically entail the departure of all who ‘hunt’ with Bill. 1923[see rim n.1 3 c]. 1970R. K. Kent Lang. Journalism 123 Slot, the middle of the horseshoe⁓shaped copy desk where the news editor or copy editor (sometimes called slotman) sits. To be in the slot is to be in charge of the copy desk.
d. Aeronaut. A linear gap in an aerofoil, running parallel to its leading edge, which allows the passage of air from the lower to the upper surface and so increases the lift. Cf. slat n.1 4 d.
1920Flight XII. 1124/1 It has already been mentioned that the slot separating the false from the main leading edge is contracted towards the upper surface. 1936Discovery Mar. 73/2 The Weick and Hammond have..a control which is a combination of slot and aileron. This is intended to obviate the need of a rudder. 1960C. H. Gibbs-Smith Aeroplane ii. 221 Ingenious as the machine undoubtedly was,..there is no visible trace of any slots, or of any wires or other gear attached to, or passing anywhere near, the wings that could be associated with slots.
e. The vulva. coarse slang. Cf. slit n. 1 d.
1942Berrey & Van Den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §121/38 Female pudendum..shape, slot, snatch, tail. 1977Miller & Swift Words & Women vii. 117 No such positive connotations attach to prick, but even this word does not convey the absolute scorn of slit, slot, snatch, and gash.
f. A marked-out parking space. Chiefly U.S.
1944R. Chandler Lady in Lake xiii. 74, I..parked in one of the diagonal slots at the side of the Prescott Hotel. 1968A. Diment Great Spy Race iii. 35, I shunted my car into a small slot near the fire station. 1978R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xvii. 195 Holcroft backed the car out of its slot, then drove through the entrance posts onto the country road.
g. A prison cell; also, = cell n.1 4 b. Austral. slang.
1947Pix 20 Sept. 15 Peter or slot, cell. 1969Sydney Sunday Tel. 21 Dec. 14/4 ‘I'd hate to try and tot up the number of hooks and badges (rank and good conduct insignia) that little lot's whipped away since the ship came out.’.. ‘And what about the slot (cells) they've dished out. It must run into years!’ 1976Cleo Aug. 33 Some of the old heads are in the slot, he says. The slot is jail.
3. (See quots.)
1590Cokaine Treat. Hunting D j, Diuers Buckes haue sundrie slots in their palmes: some haue slots on both sides: other some are plaine palmed. 1900Pollock & Thom Sports Burma 373 The slots or divisions of the hoofs now showed very deep and distinctly in the soft earth.
4. dial. (See quots. 1796 and 1882.) Also attrib., as slot-hem.
1796F. Leighton MS. Letter, To the Yorkshire words add Slot, meaning the open hem in which the strings run of a purse, work-bag, night cap, &c. 1828–in dialect glossaries (Yks., Lanc., Linc.). 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 508 A couple of tapes drawn tight in a slot-hem. 1882Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlwk. 452/2 Slot, an inelegant term, employed in the eastern counties of England to denote a casing formed either by a double Running, or by a Hem, for the reception of a ribbon or tape, to be used as a Running⁓string.
5. a. Sc. (See quot.)
This sense is also recorded for Norw. slot (Ross), and may represent a different word.
1808Jamieson, The slot of a hill, a hollow in a hill, or between two ridges.
b. Austral. and N.Z. A crevasse.
1959Tararua XIII. 46 Slot, for a crevasse, sometimes used by climbers, is not necessary and is merely slang. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 58 This was the roughest bit of country yet—short, miserable, scrubby trees and stringy bushes; broken country, high slots and hollows full of water.
6. fig.
a. A position in a list, hierarchy, system, or scheme; a position to be filled; a category; a place or division in a timetable, esp. in broadcasting.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §672/10 Rank or rating in league, division, percentage ladder, slot. 1947Auden Nones (1952) 64 Among those staring blemishes that mark War's havocking slot. 1956Sat. Rev. (U.S.) 2 June 50/2 No management slot is harder to fill today than the research director's post. 1956W. H. Whyte Organization Man ii. viii. 104 Sales work..is about the only slot they would qualify for if they took English or history. 1964Economist 25 Jan. 327/2 There is a ‘slot’ in the market for a medium-range supersonic airliner. Ibid. 20 June 1369/3 The ‘slots’ once gained, were never given up [by regional TV stations]. 1966Listener 6 Oct. 518/1 It seems perverse that when the Monday evening ‘slot’ has been extended to as much as two hours for lesser fry, it should be made to stand at ninety minutes for The Merchant of Venice (Home Service, September 26). 1967Ibid. 6 Apr. 467/3 ‘Theology, during the great controversies of the mid-nineteenth century, was anti-scientific.’.. (Try fitting Newman or even Kingsley into that slot!) 1969Times 21 Nov. 23/5 How serious is the situation at Heathrow?.. There are no spare ‘slots’ into which landing and taking-off airliners can be fitted. 1970Daily Tel. 3 Sept. 13/2 The first Radio London slot each day will be from 6.45 a.m. to 9 a.m., a blend of news, music, personalities and information called ‘Rush Hour’. 1972Business Week 18 Mar. 81/1 Although he held a top slot at snia, he was lured away for the even bigger job at Alitalia. 1973C. Bonnington Next Horizon xxii. 298 An Italian millionaire..had permission for an autumn reconnaissance in 1972 to be followed by a spring attempt in 1973. Owing to sickness he gave up his autumn slot. 1974Guardian 26 Mar. 14/1 Welland's script was accepted by the BBC for its ‘Play For Today’ slot. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 24 Apr. 19a/3 Stanford has 10,009 applications for 1,450 freshman slots next fall. 1976A. Davis Television: First Forty Years viii. 86 Suitable slots are normally of 90 to 120 minutes, with time for commercials to be taken out of this, but films are rarely obliging enough to run to exactly the length required. 1977Film & Television Technician Mar. 6/4 The British programme-makers are actually pushing the Americans out of the number one slot in key Western Europe and Scandinavian countries. 1977Times 25 Aug. 1/8 The importance of taking a flight ‘slot’ when it comes up. 1978M. Puzo Fools Die xii. 131 After six months of free-lance work he offered me a magazine editor slot. 1980Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts July 529/2 Many place Kokoschka in the slot ‘Expressionist’.
b. spec. in Linguistics (see quot. 1960). Also attrib. and Comb.
1957K. L. Pike in General Linguistics Spring 36 The characteristics of a grammeme which in many instances are perhaps most readily recognized in current descriptions of a grammemic system are the functional slot with its class filler. 1959[see diaphoneme]. 1959W. H. Mittins in Quirk & Smith Teaching of English iv. 116 Some teachers..seek to achieve a kind of concentration and continuity by methodically working through batteries of vocabulary exercises in slot-filling..and the like. 1960Elson & Pickett Beginning Morphology-Syntax ii. 16 A slot is a grammatical position or function (e.g. subject) which is filled by a list of mutually substitutable items (e.g. nouns). The tagmeme is the unit of grammatical arrangement involved in or resulting from this slot-class correlation. Ibid. 37 Make a chart with the slot names.., listing fillers below each slot name. Ibid. iii. 40 As a filler class they can only be united by some such term as ‘subject slot fillers’. 1962W. A. Stewart in F. A. Rice Study of Role of Second Languages in Asia, Africa, & Latin Amer. 21 Under various conditions, the same language may occupy more than one functional slot. 1964E. Bach Introd. Transformational Gram. iii. 44 But the basic points of the slot-symbol and class-symbol description and the lack of context-sensitive rules remain untouched. 1964Language XL. 314 American slot-and-filler grammatical description. 1965Word Study Feb. 3/1 Word groups filling noun slots and verb slots comprise the chief building blocks of utterances. 1970B. M. H. Strang Hist. English 25 When, through cross-cultural experience, speakers of one language are conscious of an ‘empty slot’ in their language which is filled in another language.., they may..fill the gap by borrowing the filler. 1972Archivum Linguisticum III. 22 The lexical co-occurrence restrictions which hold between the fillers of predicate and subject slots are different from the restrictions which hold between the fillers of predicate and instrument slots. 1972Computers & Humanities VII. 14 Some recent publications include..‘Computerized Japanese Haiku’, which describes how the poems are created by slot-filling. 1972M. L. Samuels Linguistic Evolution 65 A new slot-filler may arise from borrowing or creation, or the ‘pull’ of the empty slot may hasten a new process of extension in another existing word. 1981Word 1980 XXXI. 230 He makes use of the slot-and-filler infrastructure, characteristic of tagmemics.
7. attrib. (in sense 2), as slot-arm, slot-bar, slot-bearing, slot hole, etc.; slot-wedge (see 2 a, quot. 1523).
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 392/2 As the *slot-arm [in a lathe] oscillates, it gives a reciprocating motion to the shaping slide.
1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 331 The *slot-bar..is for the purpose of adjusting the length of the fourth foot of the machine to any inequalities of the barn⁓floor. 1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. J 2, The bottom of the slot bar is arranged with a capped bearing.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1109 The spindles with their bobbins revolve in two *slot-bearings.
1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. J 2, These carriages and *slot heads are quite independent of each other in all their motions.
1485Nottingham Rec. III. 244 For boryng of ij. *slott holes in a bote stake. 1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. H 9, The tools are fixed..in square slot holes.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Slot-hoop, the same as truss-hoops.
1869Rankine Mach. & Millwork 167 The axis..of the *slot-lever.
1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Eng. Terms 285 The *slot link..of an engine, which, through the medium of the eccentrics, alters the valve for forward or backward motion.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 119 The *slot-piece b adjusts the roller a, and a similar slot-piece..adjusts the roller b.
1891Daily News 28 Dec. 3/1 In the concrete..are embedded at intervals cast iron tube frames, to which the *slot rails are bolted.
1892Low Machine Draw. 108 What is the object of the *slotway in the upper part of the ram?
8. a. Comb., as slot-borer, slot-boring, slot-drilling, slot-headed.
1869Rankine Mach. & Millwork 169 Crank and Slot⁓headed Sliding Rod. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2215 Slot⁓drilling Machine. 1884Ibid. Suppl. 823/2 Slot Borer, a tool used for opening the cut in connection with slotting machines. Ibid., Slot-boring Machine.
b. Special combs., as slot aerial, antenna, an aerial in the form of one or more slots in a metal surface; slot-back, N. Amer. Football, (the position of) a back who stands behind a gap in the forward line; slot car, a miniature racing car, powered by electricity, which travels in a slot in a track; slot-machine, a machine which is operated by inserting a coin in a slot; also fig. and attrib.; slot man U.S. slang, a newspaper's chief sub-editor, a news editor; slot-meter, a meter which is operated by inserting a coin in a slot; slot racer = slot car; so slot-race v. intr., slot-racing vbl. n.; slot radiator = slot aerial; slot seam, a clothing seam reinforced underneath; also, = channel seam s.v. channel n.1 12; slot television, a coin-operated television; slot winding Electr. Engin., an armature winding in which the conductors are laid in slots or grooves in the core; so slot-wound a.
1946Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers XCIII. iiia. 626/1 It would appear that *slot aerials are capable of making a contribution to the problem of designing a radiating element that produces circular polarization in all directions of radiation. 1956B.B.C. Handbk. 1957 56 To keep staff up to date, training supplements on such items as slot aerials, television lighting, frequency modulation, and other developments are issued.
1946Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers XCIII. iiia. 749/2 In spite of the length of the *slot antenna, this load can be treated as lumped at the position of the centre of the slot. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xviii. 43 Very low profile slot antennas utilizing shallow cavities fed by coaxial cables have been designed for aircraft use.
1959Washington Post 21 Nov. A14/4 He helped develop Elroy (Crazy⁓legs) Hirsch into a *slotback with the Los Angeles Rams. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 18/2 Slotback Dick Smith took a 12-yard pass from Sonny Wade in the second quarter for one Montreal touchdown. 1974Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 24 Apr. 5b/1 At slot back..Rut Livingston..has the makings of a great player.
1966Maclean's Mag. 22 Jan. 9a The track on which *slot cars race is a tabletop affair. 1971Publishers' Weekly 27 Sept. 129/3 (Advt.), The New Zealand Boys' Book of Crafts, Pets, Sports and Hobbies by Anthony Harvey and Peter Snell provides information on..model-making, rugby, sailing, slot cars, and wood-carving.
1891Brooklyn Daily Eagle Index July–Dec. 155/2 *Slot machine. 1892Pall Mall G. 2 June 1/3 An ostrich's stomach is not filled with mechanism like a slot machine's. a1910‘O. Henry’ Rolling Stones (1912) 196 Mac McGowan was to..drop his silver talent into the slit of the slot-machine of fame and fortune that gives up reputation and dough. 1929Sun (Baltimore) 15 Nov. 1/6 ‘Spike’ O'Donnell,..beer baron and bootlegger,..is acting as his own lawyer in the ‘slot machine’ trial. 1933C. Day Lewis Magnetic Mountain 12 Eating chocolate creams from the slot-machines. 1957Observer 1 Sept. 13/4 At Las Vegas the plane empties of passengers who, with cold passion, play the slot-machines in the concourse until ten minutes later, when it is time to go. 1978J. Wainwright Jury People lxiv. 216 A slot-machine arcade. One of these pin-table places.
1928Amer. Speech IV. 134 Presiding over the copy readers is the ‘head of the desk’ or ‘*slot man’. His chief duty is to judge the amount of space to be given any ‘story’ or news article and to designate the size of the ‘headline’ or ‘head’. 1972Slot man [see revise n. 3].
1899Westm. Gaz. 10 Aug. 2/2 A reduction of 2d. per thousand to those using the *slot meter.
1966Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 4 Feb. 13 (caption) J. P. Evans.. and Ed Johnson get ready to put their *slot racers through a gruelling five-lap race.
1965Wall St. Jrnl. 27 Aug. 22 A rapidly growing number of Americans..have caught the *slot-racing bug. 1967J. Symons Man who killed Himself i. vi. 69, I haven't joined a slot racing club... I like slot racing on my own.
1946Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers XCIII. iiia. 748/2 When *slot radiators which were very loosely coupled to the guide had to be measured, standing-wave measurements of single slots became unreliable. 1967IEEE Trans. Antennas & Propagation XV. 826/1 If the boundaries of the dielectric cover are kept within the local reactive fields of the slot, the primary effect upon the radiation is a change in the impedance of the slot radiator.
1918E. & M. Wallbank Dress Cutting & Making x. 69 *Slot Seam, in which both edges are overlapped on to a wrap piece or ‘slot’. 1968J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 99 Channel Seam (slot seam): to make a channel or slot seam, the seam turnings should be basted together. An additional strip of fabric should be laid under the basted seam and should then be machined approximately half-inch or so away from the basted seam line.
1958Kinematograph Weekly (Studio Rev.) 29 May p. iv/3 If *slot television gets a real hold on the public, commercial cinema..is doomed. 1977Grimsby Even. Tel. 26 May 3/8 (Advt.), Slot television, bargains galore.
1900Jrnl. Brit. Inst. Electr. Engineers XXIX. 802 A hole-winding produces a somewhat smoother pole than a *slot-winding. 1968Fink & Carroll Standard Handbk. Electr. Engineers (ed. 10) vi. 10 Fractional slot windings, where the number of slots per phase per pole is not an integer, have unequal coil groups.
1931L. B. Turner Wireless xiv. 471 The calculation of E.M.F. in a *slot-wound dynamo.
Add:[2.] h. Motor Rallying. A turning or other opening, esp. one marked for the driver to take. slang.
1963P. Drackett Motor Rallying iii. 35 Slot, entrance to a road. Wrong-slot, quite simply—taking the wrong road. 1987Rally Sport Jan. 87/3 [They] missed a slot in the village of Tegryn and were close to PC9 before realising their mistake.
i. Ice Hockey. An unmarked area in front of the goal affording the best position for an attacking player to make a successful shot at goal.
1967Maple Leaf Gardens Mag. 15 Mar. 59/1 Note the centreman is in the white section in this diagram. In hockey this area is termed the ‘slot’. More goals are scored from here than anywhere else. 1968Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 41/3 The Marlie forwards sped into the slot on the least excuse to take a swipe at the puck that Hawk defenders left in front of their netminder. 1980N.Y. Times 27 Nov. b9/1 Lying on his side, he poked the puck to Cashman in the slot. 1986New Yorker 31 Mar. 21/2 Our goalie was subjected to..slap shot after slap shot raining in from the blue line, the slot.
j. Computing. Any elongated, more or less rectangular socket; spec. = expansion slot s.v. *expansion n. 8.
1978Practical Computing July–Aug. 4 The chassis..has three additional slots for expansion boards. 1982F. J. Galland Dict. Computing 30 Cage, a group of slots with electrical connectors used to hold replaceable printed circuit boards in a functional unit. 1983Practical Computing Nov. 97 (caption) Softward ROMs up to 16K can be plugged into a slot above the keyboard. 1988Which? Nov. 527/1 Computers with more slots are more versatile.
▪ III. slot, n.3|slɒt|
Also 6 slotte.
[ad. AF. and OF. esclot (pl. escloz, esclos) hoof-print of a horse, etc., by Godefroy identified with esclot, esclop wooden shoe, but more prob. ad. ON. slóð track, sleuth n.2]
1. The track or trail of an animal, esp. a deer, as shown by the marks of the foot; sometimes misapplied to the scent of an animal; hence generally, track, trace, or trail.
1575Turberv. Venerie 36 Take your Bloudhoundes and with them finde out the view or Slotte of the Harte or Bucke. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 35 To dogge them a little,..and so discouer by slotte where the Deare taketh soyle. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. xiii. 115 The Huntsman by his Slot, or breaking earth, perceaves..Where he hath gone to lodge. 1637B. Jonson Sad Shepherd i. ii, By his slot,..His frayings, fewmets, he doth promise sport. 1663Killigrew Parson's Wedding v. iv, If he had had as much hoof as horn, you might have hunted the beast by his slot. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 472 See here his Slot; up yon green Hill he climbs. 1777Lightfoot Flora Scotica I. 7 They were called..slothe hounds, from their following the slot or track of men or cattle. 1801Southey Thalaba ii. xxiii, The Deer Hath left his slot beside the way. 1865Boner Transylv. 154 The slot of the bear is quite like that of a human being. 1888Doughty Arabia Deserta I. 161 We found in the sand where an hyena had lately passed: Sâlih asked if I knew the slot.
fig.1645Milton Colast. Wks. 1851 IV. 372 This odious fool..leavs the noysom stench of his rude slot behind him. 1820Scott Monast. ix, We know Norman a true bloodhound, who will never quit the slot. 1864Daily Telegr. 10 Oct., The Emperor, who rarely quits the slot of an idea. 188419th Cent. Oct. 558 The most viciously virtuous reviewer that ever gave tongue on the slot of an imaginary scandal.
2. A deer's foot.
1876World I. No. 121. 15 As to what is the correct name of a deer's foot,..I never heard it called anything but ‘slot’. 1901Westm. Gaz. 3 Sept. 2/2 Another spoil of the chase of the wild red deer is the foot or ‘slot’, as it is called, and these slots may be found serving as bell-pulls, or even as door⁓knockers and ink-stands.
3. Comb., as slotwise adv.
1865Swinburne Poems & Ball., Laus Veneris 255 And tracking ever slot-wise the warm scent. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer (1891) 126 Following the track (slotwise) at dawn of day.
▪ IV. † slot, n.4 Obs. rare.
In 5 sclot(t.
[Of obscure origin.]
A muddy place; mud.
Perh. a var. of sloth n.2; the same vocab. has paytt for ‘path’. Halliwell's ‘Slot, wet sticky clay. Linc.’ (copied by Brogden) is of very doubtful genuineness.
c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 797 Hic linus [= limus], a sclott. Ibid. 798 Hoc volutabrum, a selot [sic].
▪ V. † slot, n.5 Obs.—1
[a. Du. or LG. slot (G. schloss): see slot n.1]
A castle.
1578B. Rich Allarme to England To Rdr., Thou paydst for building of a slot, that wrought thine owne decay.
▪ VI. slot, v.1 Now dial.|slɒt|
[f. slot n.1 1.]
1. trans. To bolt (a door).
The entry in Johnson (1755) ‘To Slot, v.a. (slughen, Dutch), to strike or clash hard’ is prob. an echo (through Bailey) of Skinner, who connects the word with Du. sluyten.
1563Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 139 Ȝour scoleris..hes in thare imaginatioun cloisit vp, slotit, and neidnalit the samin ȝettis of our hæretage. 1671Skinner Etymol. s.v., To Slot a door, vox agro Linc. usitatissima, (i.e.) januam claudere. [1674Ray N.C. Words 43 To Slot a door, Lincoln, i.e. to shut it. 1787Grose Prov. Gloss., To slot a door, to shut it hastily, or in a passion.] 1811H. Macneill Bygane Times 18 Whan they see The door, tho' slotted, budge a wee. 1825–in dialect glossarie (Nhb., Yks., Linc., Shropsh.).
b. (See quot.)
1695Kennett Par. Antiq. Gloss. s.v. Slade, In the South to slot a lock is to thrust it back.
2. To secure (a lock) by shooting a bolt.
1904A. Griffiths 50 Yrs. Public Service xxi. 318 He found that his skeleton-key would open the lock, even when ‘on the double’ or slotted.
▪ VII. slot, v.2|slɒt|
[f. slot n.2]
†1. trans. To pierce through the ‘slot’. Obs.—1
a1400Morte Arth. 3853 He schokkes owtte a schorte knyfe.., And scholde haue slottede hyme in, bot no slytte happenede.
2. a. To cut a slot or slots in; to furnish with a slot. Also with out.
1747Hooson Miner's Dict. Q iij, The Sliders are Slotted at both Ends to receive the Forks. 1869Rankine Mach. & Hand-tools Pl. J 2, This machine is intended to slot the sides of connecting rods. Ibid. J 4, The tool holder, X, is provided with a circular motion..for slotting out curves. 1892Low Machine Draw. 54 After it is turned, planed, and bored it is slotted across.
b. Coal-mining. To hole.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 227.
3. To drop (a coin) through a slot in a slot-machine.
1888Pall Mall G. 25 Sept. 5/1 All the would-be purchasers who have carelessly slotted their pence.
4. To thread (material etc.) with (ribbon).
1922Joyce Ulysses 344 She had four dinky sets,..each set slotted with different coloured ribbons. 1975G. Howell In Vogue 243 The flowerpot hat..in coffee cream satin slotted with a brown ribbon.
5. intr.
a. To admit of being threaded through a hole or slot.
1928Daily Express 9 Jan. 13 The unique collar slots through the buckle.
b. fig. To fit in or into; to take up a position in a space or slot (slot n.2 6).
1940H. G. Wells Babes in Darkling Wood i. i. 40 We are not the people we were yesterday. We slot into the new order. 1965New Statesman 7 May 715/1 Personally I never knew yet quite what I was nor where I slotted in; I suppose I was ready for total identification somewhere, but never where I happened to be. 1966‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive xx. 187, I..watched the police-car slot in between us and the car ahead; then it pulled out and one lost it. 1971Daily Tel. 9 June 2/4 Initially the trains will operate at a maximum 125 mph to ‘slot in’ with new-type conventional diesels. 1976Times 15 Apr. 27/1 The French company augments its range in Britain with the GTL, which slots in between the 956cc TL and the high-performance TS. 1976Ilkeston Advertiser 10 Dec. 19/1 They produced a great team display with new boy Henshaw slotting in well. 1980S. Brett Dead Side of Mike xiii. 149 There are quite a few details which haven't slotted into position yet, but..the outline's right.
6. trans.
a. To fit (something) in or into a position, space, or slot (slot n.2 6).
1966A. Battersby Math. in Management viii. 211 Certain complex calculations..are available in a form which can be readily ‘slotted in’ to bigger programs. 1968Listener 4 Jan. 27/1 The television slotting system..separates programmes into categories... But slotting also creates a climate in which surprise is unwelcome... Slotted into one of the arts programme times the Beatles' film would hardly have raised a whisper. 1970O. Norton Dead on Prediction i. 14, I..managed to slot the Mini into the corner of the temporary car park. 1971Country Life 8 Apr. 801/1 The richly Italianate facade of the Finsbury Bank for Savings..was slotted into the terrace in 1840. 1972M. Williams Inside Number 10 xiii. 339 The National Agent went to great pains to slot this function into the election tour. 1973Scotsman 13 Feb. 8/4 Steady progress up the scale leads to a salary of {pstlg}3638. It is inconceivable that the Bishop of Bath and Wells..would be slotted in at the minimum. 1977C. Dexter Silent World N. Quinn viii. 71 He slotted the book back into its shelf. 1977Irish Times 8 June 8/4 Why, for instance, wasn't Sile de Valera slotted into this constituency once Vivion de Valera stood down?
b. spec. in Football. To kick (the ball, a pass) accurately through a narrow space, esp. in or into the goal; to score (a goal) in this way. Also absol.
1970F. C. Avis Soccer Dict. (ed. 3) 86 Slot in, to pass, or to score a goal, by the very skilful placing of the ball through a narrow gap between players. 1974Observer 1 Sept. 18/4 Boersma hardly needed to leave the ground to slot his..header into the net. 1975Liverpool Echo (Football ed.) 1 Feb. 1/4 United took the lead through Jones who slotted home. 1975Evening News (Edinburgh) (Sports Final ed.) 15 Mar. 10/2 McDowell slotted the ball into the net. 1977Wandsworth Borough News 7 Oct. 10/1 He beat Newton, centre-half Robinson and goalkeeper Stevenson before slotting the ball in. 1978Cornish Guardian 27 Apr. 5/3 The home team were showing good touches and Hargreaves slotted in a third goal after Barker had sent a good shot screaming goalwards.
Add:[2.] c. To kill or injure (a person) by shooting. Army slang.
1987New Breed Sept. 58/3 During the Rhodesian conflict..‘troopies’ on external raids into Frelimo territory (Mozambique) regularly sought (and found) bayonets on the bodies of those they ‘slotted’. 1989Times 27 July 3/5 If you can't get a good conviction then you get someone slotted (slang for shot).
▪ VIII. slot, v.3|slɒt|
[f. slot n.3]
trans. To trace by the slot; to follow the track of (a stag, etc.).
1582Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 23 Three stags sturdye wer vnder Neere the seacost gating, theym slot thee clusterus heerdflock. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Hart, If the Way is too hard to slot, be sure to try far enough back. 1838Sporting Mag. Aug. 342 The hounds could own no such thing, neither could the knowing ones ‘slot’ the animal. 1884Longman's Mag. IV. 489 The ground may be so wet..that it is impossible to ‘slot’ a deer. |