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pilot

[pahy-luht]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

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

a person who steers a ship.

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

a guide or leader: the pilot of the expedition.

coast pilot (def. 1).

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pilot light (def. 1).

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.

Railroads. cowcatcher.

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)

11.

to steer.

12.

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

13.

to act as pilot on, in, or over.

14.

to be in charge of or responsible for: We're looking for someone to pilot the new project.

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Pilot is always a great word to know.

So is shear stress. Does it mean:

fractional volume change of a body due to uniform pressure

external force acting on an object or surface parallel to the slope or plane

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adjective

15.

serving as an experimental or trial undertaking prior to full-scale operation or use: a pilot project.

Origin:
1520–30; earlier pylotte < Middle French pillotte < Italian pilota, dissimilated variant of pedota < Medieval Greek *pēdṓtēs steersman, equivalent to pēd(á) rudder (plural of pēdón oar) + -ōtēs agent suffix

Related forms

un·pi·lot·ed, adjective

well-pi·lot·ed, adjective

Can be confused: Pilate, pilot.

Synonyms
2. helmsman. 13. maneuver, manage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To pilot

Example Sentences

It also referred incorrectly to sport pilot licenses.

Our laptop requirement came only after several years of pilot projects that explored laptops' role in pedagogy.

It was equipped with digital systems that unerringly corrected for pilot error as well as any buffeting caused by bad weather.

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It also referred incorrectly to sport pilot licenses.

Our laptop requirement came only after several years of pilot projects that explored laptops' role in pedagogy.

It was equipped with digital systems that unerringly corrected for pilot error as well as any buffeting caused by bad weather.

Pilot whales are extremely social animals, living in pods that sometimes contain hundreds of individuals.

Apparently nobody thought that a pilot who wants to hijack a plane doesn't need a scissors.

As it stands, for one pilot to learn about turbulence pretty much means another pilot elsewhere has already encountered it.

Drill pilot holes and screw the spreaders to the legs.

Aaron isn't the first pilot to ever fly aerobatics in a helicopter.

The pilot and co-pilot survived and were hospitalized with burns.

It's easy to switch into automatic pilot mode when it comes to planning a course.

Now research has put up a surprising candidate to join this high-speed predatory club: the short-finned pilot whale.

Kids can print illustrations of pilot whales and other animals to color or use in school projects.

Bleary-eyed, the pilot stares at the instruments while sipping stale coffee.

The pilot regained control and returned to the airport.

As for the show's action and humor, screen the first part of the pilot below and see for yourself.

Women television writers are having a great pilot season this year.

There have been a few bumps in the road during the pilot phase.

The expansion of a pilot payment system by mobile phone this week has quickened its stride.

Faroese fishermen target pilot whales--technically dolphins but less recognizable than their bottlenose cousins.

The relationship between playfulness and coping in preschool children: a pilot study.

All it requires is some milk, a covered container, a microwave or stove and an oven with a pilot light or oven light.

And the first electric student pilot has already flown solo, learning the basics entirely in a battery-powered airplane.

The pilot boats which were blown off shore, and many of which it was feared had gone down, began to be heard from yesterday.

Then the designers invited a small group of players to take part in a small pilot project.

Several other firms hope to start pilot plants on a similar scale this year.

He then switched the steering mechanism to automatic pilot.

Unmanned remotely operated airplanes fly and fight over warzones without endangering a precious pilot s life.

First, create a pilot program at the federal or state level that allows prisoners to take online courses.

The pilot has a joystick and rudder pedals, and a full set of instruments.

The pilot studies so far have yet to transcend the level of anecdotal evidence, but these single cases are compelling.

Also, remember, this is a pilot of one manufacturer's system.

Pilot study harnesses sequencing power to track tumours.

It seems to me that you would want to refer to the first survey as your pilot study or start-up study.

But in the end the pilot was awarded a medal for fulfilling his duties with care.

We have omitted the name of the pilot and his employer to protect him from reprisals.

The students in our pilot courses got along well together, but those in another pilot did not.

The government has given the go-ahead for the world's first pilot of television voting, via the remote.

It took all three of us to muscle the slippery black bulk of the pilot whale into the screaming blur of the band-saw blade.

It's not every day a simple click of the mouse can make you a test pilot.

By moving his torso, the pilot could warp these wings with an elaborate system of wires.

The pilot project seeks to contribute to the economic health of communities by promoting geotourism:.

Would shooting a pilot operating a drone be considered murder or an act of war if the pilot is in the.

Inside, the pilot straps into a control pod, a racing.

The pilot should have gone to his alternate landing point, in all probability.

The pilot tried to throw everything back in the plane and take off, but the water was too heavy.

In the past, patients have used these devices to spell words on a computer, pilot a wheelchair or flex a mechanical hand.

The problem of pilot fatigue has been around for a long time and there.

And in the fall a pilot will air, an academic unit with a new name and faces both familiar and unfamiliar.

Without the need for an expensively trained pilot and all his supporting gear, the market for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Heading south, the pilot searches for a particular point on a transect map, then banks and flies due west.

In one, for instance, the data showed that the pilot had trouble rotating the plane during takeoff.

The question is whether the pilot project can be scaled up fast enough to meet the challenge.

On our flight out, the pilot circled back to show us the spectacular view from above.

Instead several electrodes glued to the boy's face and to the skin under his hair let him pilot the plane by thought alone.

But he added that the government planned to expand the program after the pilot phase.

With no pilot inside there is room for lots of gear: optical sensors.

About a decade ago torches were equipped with pilot lights that relit the larger, more photogenic flame when it blew out.

At the meeting, she announced a pilot program that will give colleges more discretion over how much their students.

What some pilot plants have shown so far, however, is that a lot of the electricity produced is needed to power the arc.

Large firms should try a pilot scheme before implementing the system throughout their organisation.

It plans to launch a pilot surveillance program to monitor bee-health at the beginning of next year.

Most countries know what to do and run pilot programmes that work.

In four pilot stores, the number of customers and sales went up by a tenth following the revamp.

Yet many pilot projects run so far have shown that junior staff can often be surprisingly good forecasters.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

pilot (ˈpaɪlət)

—n
1.	a. a person who is qualified to operate an aircraft or spacecraft in flight
	b. (as modifier): pilot error
2.	a. a person who is qualified to steer or guide a ship into or out of a port, river mouth, etc
	b. (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

—vb
12.	to act as pilot of
13.	to control the course of
14.	to guide or lead (a project, people, etc)

[C16: from French pilote, from Medieval Latin pilotus, ultimately from Greek pēdon oar; related to Greek pous foot]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

pilot

1512, "one who steers a ship," from M.Fr. pillot, from It. piloto, O.It. pedoto, usually said to be from Medieval Gk. *pedotes "rudder, helmsman," from Gk. pedon "steering oar," related to pous (gen. podos) "foot" (see foot). Change of -d- to -l- in L. parallels that in odor/olfactory.

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Sense extended 1848 to "one who controls a balloon," and 1907 to "one who flies an airplane." The verb is first recorded 1693.

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