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Pilot boat   /pˈaɪlət boʊt/   Listen
noun
Pilot  n.  
1.
(Naut.) One employed to steer a vessel; a helmsman; a steersman.
2.
Specifically, a person duly qualified, and licensed by authority, to conduct vessels into and out of a port, or in certain waters, for a fixed rate of fees.
3.
Figuratively: A guide; a director of another through a difficult or unknown course.
4.
An instrument for detecting the compass error.
5.
The cowcatcher of a locomotive. (U.S.)
6.
(Aeronautics) One who flies, or is qualified to fly, an airplane, balloon, or other flying machine.
7.
(Mach.) A short plug at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool. Pilots are sometimes made interchangeable.
8.
(Mining) The heading or excavation of relatively small dimensions, first made in the driving of a larger tunnel.
9.
(Television) A filmed or taped episode of a proposed television series, produced as an example of the series. It may be shown only to those television broadcast executives who may decide whether to buy the rights to the series, or aired to test viewer reaction or to interest sponsors. Also called pilot film or pilot tape.
Pilot balloon, a small balloon sent up in advance of a large one, to show the direction and force of the wind.
Pilot bird. (Zool.)
(a)
A bird found near the Caribbee Islands; so called because its presence indicates to mariners their approach to these islands.
(b)
The black-bellied plover. (Local, U.S.)
Pilot boat, a strong, fast-sailing boat used to carry and receive pilots as they board and leave vessels.
Pilot bread, ship biscuit.
Pilot cloth, a coarse, stout kind of cloth for overcoats.
Pilot engine, a locomotive going in advance of a train to make sure that the way is clear.
Pilot fish. (Zool)
(a)
A pelagic carangoid fish (Naucrates ductor); so named because it is often seen in company with a shark, swimming near a ship, on account of which sailors imagine that it acts as a pilot to the shark.
(b)
The rudder fish (Seriola zonata).
Pilot jack, a flag or signal hoisted by a vessel for a pilot.
Pilot jacket, a pea jacket.
Pilot nut (Bridge Building), a conical nut applied temporarily to the threaded end of a pin, to protect the thread and guide the pin when it is driven into a hole.
Pilot snake (Zool.)
(a)
A large North American snake (Coluber obsoleus). It is lustrous black, with white edges to some of the scales. Called also mountain black snake.
(b)
The pine snake.
Pilot whale. (Zool.) Same as Blackfish, 1.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Pilot boat" Quotes from Famous Books



... obeyed me, but Captain Landais obstinately refused, and after sending me various uncivil messages, wrote me a very extraordinary letter in answer to a written order which I had sent him, on finding that he had trifled with my verbal orders. The next day a pilot boat came on board from Shetland, by which means I received such advices as induced me to change a plan which I otherwise meant to have pursued; and as the Cerf did not appear at my second rendezvous, I determined to steer towards the third in ...
— The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 • J. F. Loubat
... things must end in this mortal life, and our voyage was near its termination, when we were becalmed on the Southern coast of England and could not make more than one knot an hour. When within sight of the distant shore, a pilot boat came along and offered to take anyone ashore in six hours. I was so delighted at the thought of reaching land that, after much persuasion, Mr. Stanton and Mr. Birney consented to go. Accordingly we were lowered into the boat in an ...
— Eighty Years And More; Reminiscences 1815-1897 • Elizabeth Cady Stanton
... of wind at N.W., with a large sea. At 5 A.M. saw Hog Island & the island of Providence. Fired a gun & lay to for a pilot to take us in. At 8 a pilot boat came off, & Jeremiah Harman, Master of our prize, in her, having arrived the day before. Passed by the Rose man of war, stationed here. We saluted her with 7 guns, & she returned us 5. Ran aground for'ard & lay some time off of Major Stewart's house, but the ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 8, No. 48, October, 1861 • Various
... half-caste girls, with their maid and Mr. and Mrs. Lacy, came to bid Otway and the captain a brief farewell, before they went ashore in the pilot boat to ...
— By Rock and Pool on an Austral Shore, and Other Stories • Louis Becke
... narrowing river flashlights skimmed the surface of the water, playing round but never on the darkened ship. Red and green lights blinked signals. Their progress was a devious one through the mine-strewn channel. There was a heavy sea even there, and the small lights on the mast on the pilot boat, as it came to a stop, described great arcs that seemed, first to starboard, then to port, to touch the very ...
— Love Stories • Mary Roberts Rinehart
... out to the mouth of the harbor in small vessels called pilot boats, where they wait, both in sunshine and storm, for ships to come in. When a ship approaches the coast and sees one of these pilot boats, it makes a signal for a pilot to come on board. The pilot boat then sails toward the ship, and when they get near enough they let down a small boat, and row one of the pilots on board the vessel, and he guides the ship in. In the same manner, in going out of port, the pilot guides the ship until they get out into deep water, and then a pilot boat ...
— Rollo on the Atlantic • Jacob Abbott
... were signaling, and directly over Sara Lee's head a great white searchlight swept the water ahead. The wind was blowing a gale, and the red and green lights of the pilot boat swung in great arcs that seemed to touch the waves ...
— The Amazing Interlude • Mary Roberts Rinehart


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