I. ˈpīlət, usu -əd.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle French pilote, from Italian pilota, alteration of pedota, from (assumed) Middle Greek pēdōtēs, from Greek pēda steering oars, rudder, plural of pēdon oar; akin to Greek pod-, pous foot — more at foot
1.
a. : one employed to steer a ship : helmsman
b. : a person who is duly qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in special waters, often for fixed fees and who while in charge has the whole conduct of her navigation
c. : a book giving detailed navigational information of a body of water and the adjacent coastline
2. : a guide who leads along a difficult or unknown course : one who takes charge during dangerous or unsettled times : a leader who inspires
3. : menominee whitefish
4.
a. : an inclined triangular frame on the front of a railroad locomotive for removing obstacles from the track — called also cowcatcher
b. : a locomotive engineer assigned to assist in operating a train over track with which the regular engineer is unfamiliar
5. : one who flies or is qualified to fly an airplane — see commercial pilot , transport pilot
6.
a. : a cylindrical projection at the end of a tool (as a counterbore, countersink, boring rod) to guide it
b. : a bar or simple element acting as a guide or relay for another mechanical element
c. : an auxiliary mechanism that actuates, energizes, governs, or regulates another mechanism
a pilot -operated sliding disk valve
7. : the relatively small heading or excavation first made in the driving of a larger tunnel
8. : the manager of a baseball team
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1.
a. : to guide along strange paths or through dangerous places
a mountain man piloted them through the Blackfoot country — R.H.Billington
b. : conduct , escort
were piloted … up to the capitol to pay our respects to the governor — A.W.Long
pilot s the customers to their tables — Joseph Wechsberg
2. : to steer or set the course of (a ship) : serve as a pilot on, for, or over
piloting ships through the canal
all were charged with piloting raiding parties from a British fleet — American Guide Series: Maryland
3. : to direct or lead in a straight course especially under difficult circumstances
piloted through the House the government's elaborate education bill — Newsweek
4.
a. : to fly or act as pilot of (an airplane)
piloted the huge transport plane to the west coast
b. : to drive or act as operator of (as a motor vehicle)
through little lanes between huts in the village, the jeep was piloted — M.R.Masani
fresh as a daisy after piloting a big tractor-trailer — Motor Transportation
5. : to lead as though showing the way to : coach , manage
each dog is … piloted by his handler and observed by the judges — W.F.Brown b.1903
piloted the baseball team to a league pennant
Synonyms: see guide
III. adjective
: serving on a small scale as a guiding or tracing device, an activating or auxiliary unit of a full-scale contrivance, or as a trial unit in experimenting or in testing apparatus, or in checking technique or cost preparatory to full-scale activity
pilot studies are being made to determine the most effective ways in which local health departments can function — Thomas Parran
the pilot plant provides the surest and quickest way of transmuting laboratory investigations … into commercial application — Mellon Institute Report
IV. noun
1. : a television show produced as a sample of a proposed series
2. : pilot light