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copilot

American  
[koh-pahy-luht] / ˈkoʊˌpaɪ lət /

noun

  • copilots
    plural
  1. a pilot who is second in command of an aircraft.


copilot British  
/ ˈkəʊˌpaɪlət /

noun

  1. a second or relief pilot of an aircraft

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of copilot

First recorded in 1925–30; co- + pilot


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Last month a small plane crashed into the side of a building in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, killing the pilot and copilot.

From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026

Autopilot is an evolution of Luminance's copilot tool, which colour-codes clauses for legal professionals as they review a contract in Word.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2023

The pilot and copilot were taken back to the training center on another helicopter.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 30, 2023

He served in Afghanistan as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner in 2012-2013.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 9, 2023

Woolf took them under his wing, letting them copilot his roadster and teaching them the fine arts of horsemanship.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

“Fictitious friends and mannequin copilots won’t cut it,” said CHP officials.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and staked its future on the startup, releasing what it called AI copilots to business customers based on OpenAI's technology.

From Reuters ● Nov. 20, 2023

The new assistants - often called "agents" or "copilots" - promise to perform more complex personal and work tasks when commanded to by a human, without needing close supervision.

From Reuters ● Jul. 17, 2023

We're like copilots, there is no captain, and what we're saying, with greater or lesser degrees of urgency is: "Look out! Pull up!"

From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2018

For example, many airlines teach a standardized procedure for copilots to challenge the pilot if he or she thinks something has gone terribly awry.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

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