cockpit

[kok-pit]

noun

1. a space, usually enclosed, in the forward fuselage of an airplane containing the flying controls, instrument panel, and seats for the pilot and copilot or flight crew.

2. a sunken, open area, generally in the after part of a small vessel, as a yacht, providing space for the pilot, part or all of the crew, or guests.

3. the space, including the seat and instrumentation, surrounding the driver of an automobile.

4. a pit or enclosed place for cockfights.

5. a place where a contest is fought or which has been the scene of many contests or battles.

6. (formerly) a space below the water line in a warship, occupied by the quarters of the junior officers and used as a dressing station for those wounded in action.

cockpit

/ ˈkɒkˌpɪt /

noun

1. the compartment in a small aircraft in which the pilot, crew, and sometimes the passengers sit Compare flight deck

2. the driver's compartment in a racing car

3. nautical

   1. an enclosed or recessed area towards the stern of a small vessel from which it is steered

   2. (formerly) an apartment in a warship used as quarters for junior officers and as a first-aid station during combat

4. the site of numerous battles or campaigns

5. an enclosure used for cockfights

Word History and Origins

Origin of cockpit¹

First recorded in 1580–90; cock ¹ + pit ¹

Example Sentences

Airlines and engine makers are deploying new measures to curb instances of toxic fumes leaking into cockpits and cabins as momentum builds toward fixing a chronic problem in the aviation industry.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Investigators have recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders -- the plane's black boxes -- which have been brought to Ankara for examination, the ministry said.

Read more on Barron's

In the building housing reactor 3, a crane operator was stuck in the cockpit of his crane.

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Meanwhile the flight data recorder, he suggests, may have registered the command to shut off the fuel supply, rather than any physical movement of the cutoff switches in the cockpit.

Read more on BBC

Crammed into the cockpit of his U-2, Powers felt the usual tension as he neared the enemy frontier.

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• cabin 
• compartment