pilot (pilots plural & 3rd person present) (piloting present participle) (piloted past tense & past participle )
1 n-count A pilot is a person who is trained to fly an aircraft.
He spent seventeen years as an airline pilot., ...fighter pilots of the British Royal Air Force.
2 n-count A pilot is a person who steers a ship through a difficult stretch of water, for example the entrance to a harbour.
3 verb If someone pilots an aircraft or ship, they act as its pilot.
He piloted his own plane part of the way to Washington. V n
4 n-count A pilot scheme or a pilot project is one which is used to test an idea before deciding whether to introduce it on a larger scale.
usu N n
The service is being expanded following the success of a pilot scheme.
5 verb If a government or organization pilots a programme or a scheme, they test it, before deciding whether to introduce it on a larger scale.
The trust is looking for 50 schools to pilot a programme aimed at teenage pupils preparing for work. V n
6 verb If a government minister pilots a new law or bill through parliament, he or she makes sure that it is introduced successfully.
We are now piloting through Parliament a new strategy to tackle youth crime. V n through n, Also V n
7 n-count A pilot or a pilot episode is a single television programme that is shown in order to find out whether a particular series of programmes is likely to be popular.
oft N n
A pilot episode of Nothing's Impossible has already been filmed.
8 →
automatic pilot →
test pilot
automatic pilot , autopilot
1 If you are on automatic pilot or on autopilot, you are acting without thinking about what you are doing, usually because you have done it many times before.
on automatic pilot phrase v-link PHR, PHR after v
2 n-sing An automatic pilot or an autopilot is a device in an aircraft that automatically keeps it on a particular course.
co-pilot (co-pilots plural )The co-pilot of an aircraft is a pilot who assists the chief pilot. n-count
pilot light (pilot lights plural )A pilot light is a small gas flame in a cooker, stove, boiler, or fire. It burns all the time and lights the main large flame when the gas is turned fully on. n-count
pilot officer (pilot officers plural )In the British Royal Air Force, a pilot officer is someone who has the rank below Flying Officer. n-count; n-title
test pilot (test pilots plural )A test pilot is a pilot who flies aircraft of a new design in order to test their performance. n-count
