noun the cowcatcher of a locomotive.
2. pilot ·noun an instrument for detecting the compass error.
3. pilot ·noun one employed to steer a vessel; a helmsman; a steersman.
4. pilot ·add. ·vt to fly, or act as pilot of (an aircraft).
5. pilot ·vt figuratively: to guide, as through dangers or difficulties.
6. pilot ·vt to direct the course of, as of a ship, where navigation is dangerous.
7. pilot ·noun figuratively: a guide; a director of another through a difficult or unknown course.
8. pilot ·add. ·noun one who flies, or is qualified to fly, a balloon, an airship, or a flying machine.
9. pilot ·add. ·noun a short plug at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool. pilots are sometimes made interchangeable.
10. pilot ·add. ·noun the heading or excavation of relatively small dimensions, first made in the driving of a larger tunnel.
11. pilot ·noun specifically, a person duly qualified, and licensed by authority, to conduct vessels into and out of a port, or in certain waters, for a fixed rate of fees.