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pilot plant

American

noun

an experimental industrial plant in which processes or techniques planned for use in full-scale operation are tested in advance.

pilot plant British

noun

a small-scale industrial plant in which problems can be identified and solved before the full-scale plant is built

"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

Etymology

Origin of pilot plant

First recorded in 1935–40

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:

pilot plant

Critical Metals expects to begin a pilot plant program in May, beginning with a 150-metric-ton bulk sample.

From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026

Electra expects to open a new pilot plant in 2025.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 30, 2024

The project, which kicked off in 2022, is working on a pilot plant that's due to be operational in the first half of this year - though it's hit some difficulties.

From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2024

It is based on modernizing blast furnace technology with moderate investments and has already been demonstrated successfully in a pilot plant.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2023

During that summer it was used in a pilot plant to separate the first significant amounts of U235 ever obtained.

From LRL Accelerators The 184-Inch Synchrocyclotron by Laboratory, Lawrence Radiation

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023