pilot
A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
Noun 4 meanings
A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
A person who knows well the depths, shoals, and currents of a harbor or coastal area, who is hired by a vessel to help navigate the harbor or coast.
A guide book for maritime navigation.
An instrument for detecting the compass error.
Adjective 3 meanings
Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability.
“a pilot run of the new factory”
Used to control or activate another device.
“a pilot light”
Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle or combination.
“a pilot vehicle”
Verb 4 meanings
To control (an aircraft or watercraft).
To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.
To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, television show, etc.)
To serve as the leading locomotive on a double-headed train.
Etymology
From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (“to sail, navigate”)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).
Similar and opposite words
PILOT at a glance
PILOT has 5 letters and scores 7 points in Scrabble (P 3 + I 1 + L 1 + O 1 + T 1) and 9 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,841 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with pilot
All rhymesOne letter away
- PIVOT10
- PINOT7
- PICOT9
- PITOT7
- PILOW10
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