PILOT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pilot mean? 

• PILOT (noun)
  The noun PILOT has 6 senses:

1. someone who is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight

2. a person qualified to guide ships through difficult waters going into or out of a harbor

3. a program exemplifying a contemplated series; intended to attract sponsors

4. something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies

5. small auxiliary gas burner that provides a flame to ignite a larger gas burner

6. an inclined metal frame at the front of a locomotive to clear the track

  Familiarity information: PILOT used as a noun is common.

• PILOT (verb)
  The verb PILOT has 2 senses:

1. operate an airplane

2. act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance

  Familiarity information: PILOT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PILOT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

airplane pilot; pilot

Hypernyms ("pilot" is a kind of...):

aeronaut; airman; aviator; flier; flyer (someone who operates an aircraft)

Domain category:

aircraft (a vehicle that can fly)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pilot"):

barnstormer; stunt flier; stunt pilot (a pilot who travels around the country giving exhibits of stunt flying and parachuting)

captain; senior pilot (the pilot in charge of an airship)

combat pilot (airplane pilot who fights in an action between two military forces)

co-pilot; copilot (a relief pilot on an airplane)

kamikaze (a pilot trained and willing to cause a suicidal crash)

test pilot (a pilot hired to fly experimental airplanes through maneuvers designed to test them)

wingman (the pilot who positions his aircraft outside and behind (on the wing of) the leader of a flying formation)

Derivation:

pilot (operate an airplane)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person qualified to guide ships through difficult waters going into or out of a harbor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("pilot" is a kind of...):

gob; Jack; Jack-tar; mariner; old salt; sea dog; seafarer; seaman; tar (a man who serves as a sailor)

Derivation:

pilot (act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A program exemplifying a contemplated series; intended to attract sponsors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

pilot; pilot film; pilot program

Hypernyms ("pilot" is a kind of...):

television program; television show; TV program; TV show (a program broadcast by television)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

archetype; original; pilot

Context example:

this painting is a copy of the original

Hypernyms ("pilot" is a kind of...):

example; model (a representative form or pattern)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Small auxiliary gas burner that provides a flame to ignite a larger gas burner

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pilot; pilot burner; pilot light

Hypernyms ("pilot" is a kind of...):

gas burner; gas jet (burner such that combustible gas issues from a nozzle to form a steady flame)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An inclined metal frame at the front of a locomotive to clear the track

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

buffer; cowcatcher; fender; pilot

Hypernyms ("pilot" is a kind of...):

frame; framework (a structure supporting or containing something)

Holonyms ("pilot" is a part of...):

engine; locomotive; locomotive engine; railway locomotive (a wheeled vehicle consisting of a self-propelled engine that is used to draw trains along railway tracks)

• PILOT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pilot    ... he / she / it pilots   
Past simple: piloted   
Past participle: piloted   
-ing form: piloting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Operate an airplane

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

aviate; fly; pilot

Context example:

The pilot flew to Cuba

Hypernyms (to "pilot" is one way to...):

control; operate (handle and cause to function)

"Pilot" entails doing...:

fly; wing (travel through the air; be airborne)

Verb group:

fly (travel over (an area of land or sea) in an aircraft)

fly (travel in an airplane)

fly (transport by aeroplane)

Domain category:

aircraft (a vehicle that can fly)

air; air travel; aviation (travel via aircraft)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pilot"):

hang glide; soar (fly by means of a hang glider)

flat-hat; hedgehop (fly very close to the ground)

balloon (ride in a hot-air balloon)

hydroplane; seaplane (glide on the water in a hydroplane)

glide (fly in or as if in a glider plane)

jet (fly a jet plane)

test fly (test a plane)

solo (fly alone, without a co-pilot or passengers)

fly contact (fly a plane by using visible landmarks or points of reference)

fly blind (fly an airplane solely by relying on instruments)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

pilot (someone who is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight)

pilotage (the occupation of a pilot)

pilotage (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

piloting (the occupation of a pilot)

piloting (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

navigate; pilot

Context example:

Who was navigating the ship during the accident?

Hypernyms (to "pilot" is one way to...):

channelise; channelize; direct; guide; head; maneuver; manoeuver; manoeuvre; point; steer (direct the course; determine the direction of travelling)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pilot"):

astrogate (guide in interplanetary travel)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

pilot (a person qualified to guide ships through difficult waters going into or out of a harbor)

pilotage (the occupation of a pilot)

pilotage (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

piloting (the occupation of a pilot)

piloting (the guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place)

 Context examples 

“Got rid of her pilots and running into San Francisco. She’ll be there in five or six hours with this wind.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I could pass a reasonably good examination already, as a pilot in these waters, I think.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

To stimulate the development of resources and pilot projects in human cancer genetics.

(Cancer Center Supplements, NCI Thesaurus)

The team next conducted a pilot study in a small group of people.

(Health Effects of a Diet that Mimics Fasting, NIH)

Pilot pricked up his ears when I came in: then he jumped up with a yelp and a whine, and bounded towards me: he almost knocked the tray from my hands.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

"Yes, and I think it will last," added Mrs. March, with the restful expression of a pilot who has brought a ship safely into port.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

There is a channel, said Hawtayne, which was shown to me by the Prince's own pilot.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The finding may eventually lead to therapies that could benefit people in occupations requiring long stretches of wakefulness, from military to airline piloting.

(Muscle, Not Brain, May Hold Answers to Some Sleep Disorders, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A clinical research protocol generally referred to as a pilot or feasibility trial that aims to prove the concept of the new intervention in question.

(Phase IIa Trial, NCI Thesaurus)

There's the last bell for letters, and it's good-bye to the pilot.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)