- pilot
- [[t]pa͟ɪlət[/t]]
♦♦♦pilots, piloting, piloted1) 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.[V n] He piloted his own plane part of the way to Washington.
4) N-COUNT: usu N n 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.The service is being expanded following the success of a pilot scheme.
...a ten-year pilot project backed by the trade and industry department.
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.[V n] The trust is looking for 50 schools to pilot a programme aimed at teenage pupils preparing for work.
6) VERB If a government minister pilots a new law or bill through parliament, he or she makes sure that it is introduced successfully.[V n through n] We are now piloting through Parliament, as promised, the most comprehensive strategy in a generation to tackle youth crime. [Also V n]
7) N-COUNT: oft N n 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.A pilot episode of Nothing's Impossible has already been filmed.
8) N-COUNT A pilot is the pilot light on a gas cooker or stove, boiler, or fire.9) → See also , test pilot
English dictionary. 2008.
