pilot

American  

[pahy-luht] / ˈpaɪ lət /

noun

• pilots
  plural

1. a person duly qualified to steer ships into or out of a harbor or through certain difficult waters.

2. a person who steers a ship.

   Synonyms:

   helmsperson

3. Aeronautics. a person duly qualified to operate an airplane, balloon, or other aircraft.

4. a guide or leader.

   the pilot of the expedition.

5. coast pilot.

6. pilot light.

7. Machinery. a guide for centering or otherwise positioning two adjacent parts, often consisting of a projection on one part fitting into a recess in the other.

8. Railroads. cowcatcher.

9. Also called pilot film, pilot tape. Television. a prototypical filmed or taped feature, produced with hopes of network adoption as a television series and aired to test potential viewer interest and attract sponsors.

10. a preliminary or experimental trial or test.

    The school will offer a pilot of its new computer course.

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verb (used with object)

• pilots,
  present (3rd person singular)
• piloted,
  past participle,  past
• piloting
  present participle

1. to steer.

2. to lead, guide, or conduct, as through unknown places, intricate affairs, etc.

3. to act as pilot on, in, or over.

   Synonyms:

   manage, maneuver

4. to be in charge of or responsible for.

   We're looking for someone to pilot the new project.

adjective

1. serving as an experimental or trial undertaking prior to full-scale operation or use.

   a pilot project.

pilot British  

/ ˈpaɪlət /

noun

1. 1. a person who is qualified to operate an aircraft or spacecraft in flight

   2. ( as modifier )

      pilot error

2. 1. a person who is qualified to steer or guide a ship into or out of a port, river mouth, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pilot ship

3. a person who steers a ship

4. a person who acts as a leader or guide

5. machinery a guide, often consisting of a tongue or dowel, used to assist in joining two mating parts together

6. machinery a plug gauge for measuring an internal diameter

7. films a colour test strip accompanying black-and-white rushes from colour originals

8. an experimental programme on radio or television

9. See pilot film

10. (modifier) used in or serving as a test or trial

    a pilot project

11. (modifier) serving as a guide

    a pilot beacon

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verb

1. to act as pilot of

2. to control the course of

3. to guide or lead (a project, people, etc)

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unpiloted
  adjective
• well-piloted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pilots
  plural

Participles

• piloting
  present
• piloted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• pilot
  simple
• pilots
  simple
• have piloted
  perfect
• has piloted
  perfect
• am piloting
  progressive
• are piloting
  progressive
• is piloting
  progressive
• have been piloting
  perfect progressive
• has been piloting
  perfect progressive

Past

• piloted
  simple
• had piloted
  perfect
• was piloting
  progressive
• were piloting
  progressive
• had been piloting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will pilot
  simple
• will have piloted
  perfect
• will be piloting
  progressive
• will have been piloting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of pilot

First recorded in 1520–30; earlier pylotte, from Middle French pillotte, from Italian pilota, dissimilated variant of pedota, from unattested Medieval Greek pēdṓtēs “steersman,” equivalent to pēd(á) “rudder” (plural of pēdón “oar”) + -ōtēs agent suffix

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Explanation

A pilot leads the way. An aircraft pilot flies a plane, and a maritime pilot steers a ship. Also, to pilot is to guide to safety, like to navigate a ship out of a harbor or through a sea of zombies. Pilot comes from the Greek pēdon meaning "oar." Like an oar that steers a ship, a pilot steers or directs a plane. A pilot can also be a model or basis for others of its kind. A school might launch a pilot breakfast program for a few students before introducing it to the whole school. The pilot episode of a TV show is like a test program produced to determine viewer interest before making a whole season.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pilot pilots piloted piloting

Five told us that they do prescribe the drugs as part of pilot projects which allow a small number of patients to access the jabs on the NHS.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Using US-funded technology through the International Commission on Missing Persons, a pilot programme had reported genetic data was successfully pulled from 54 of 58 samples, he said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Upper Great Highway joined the list after crowds flocked to a pandemic-era pilot project that temporarily banned cars on weekends, starting at noon Fridays.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Coogler wrote, directed and executive produced the pilot and will serve as executive producer along with showrunner and executive producer Jennifer Yale.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Thinking that they could get a picture of the oncoming deluge, the pilot set down near the river.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Men at the pool presented themselves to AFP as pilots or trainers, in some cases former special forces personnel.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

The government says it will expand the use of so-called "blitz" or "short trial" courts after pilots have shown that grouping similar cases together can speed up their progression through the courts - cutting backlogs.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

One of the pilots at the Old Bailey led to the London backlog of 500 cases concerning assaults on emergency workers being cut in half over the summer.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Germany has urged pilots to weigh the risks of flying, particularly south of Jeddah closer to the border with Yemen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

The pilots were then assigned specific routes and targets to photograph.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

The 66-year-old Whittingham has never piloted a behemoth like this.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

NHS England said that the genomic test, which works by quickly analysing the genetic code of a sample of the tumour, will be piloted in specialist centres around England.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Staff monitoring signals from a drone are an indirect cost that keeps some piloted X-planes relatively affordable.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Looking out to 2030, viability "remains extremely limited and mainly only concerns raw materials", Eve Barre, an economist who piloted the Coface study, said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

Emma recounted the whole story: how Miss Peregrine was kidnapped by Golan, how she nearly drowned in her cage in the ocean, how we’d rescued her from a submarine piloted by wights.

From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

The government said it was investing nearly £100m to improve national resilience capabilities, which includes piloting specially trained firefighting teams.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

McDonald’s locations piloting a new media network for the restaurant chain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Almost all of the company’s some 150 troops have gained at least rudimentary piloting skills, and the company’s commander, a veteran of the Afghan war, said he has visited several units inside wartime Ukraine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

“He was flying to Los Angeles that day, piloting a 767. He called and told me to turn on the TV — ‘You won’t believe what is going on in New York.‘”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

This was my first opportunity to see which robots Aech, Art3mis, and Shoto had selected after clearing the Second Gate, and it took me a moment to place the towering female robot Art3mis was piloting.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

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