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Pilot   /pˈaɪlət/   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.


verb
Pilot  v. t.  (past & past part. piloted; pres. part. piloting)  
1.
To direct the course of, as of a ship, where navigation is dangerous.
2.
Figuratively: To guide, as through dangers or difficulties. "The art of piloting a state."
3.
(Aeronautics) To fly, or act as pilot of (an aircraft); to operate (an airplane).





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Pilot" Quotes from Famous Books



... Then the pilot's mate [23]—"the look-out man at the prow," to give him his proper title—was, I found, so well acquainted with the place for everything that, even off the ship, [24] he could tell you where each set of things was laid and how many there were of each, just as well as any one who ...
— The Economist • Xenophon
... the air. Men and women waved their handkerchiefs. From a group of soldiers on the shore came expressions of good luck. In response to Jack's request, a pilot had been hurried aboard ...
— The Boy Allies with the Victorious Fleets - The Fall of the German Navy • Robert L. Drake
... put his hand over his eyes and fumbled his way to the controls. He turned his back to the pilot's chair and leaned heavily against it. "Okay," he said. "This thing is developing into a duel between you and those ... those colleagues of yours out there. I guess the least we ... I ... can do is not to fight you while you're ...
— Breaking Point • James E. Gunn
... When he introduces a French song in his plays this does not imply any intimate acquaintance with the lyrical poetry of France but rather deference to the taste of the Court. He would pick up words of foreign languages with the same quickness with which he initiated himself into the way of witch or pilot, fishwife or doctor, but we have an excellent proof that his knowledge of neither French nor Italian was profound. We know how consistently he makes his characters speak each in his own language. Yet in the Auto da Fama, whereas the Spaniard speaks Spanish ...
— Four Plays of Gil Vicente • Gil Vicente
... him on this subject.] He used to show them to me, and say, 'Col, Sellers you've a mind to untangle this sort of thing.' Lord, how everything comes back to me. Laura was a little thing then. 'The Judge and I were just laying our plans to buy the Pilot ...
— The Gilded Age, Part 7. • Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) and Charles Dudley Warner


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