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pilot

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Someone who knows well the depths and currents of a harbor or coastal area.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pyluht

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpaɪlət

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A person who knows well the depths and currents of a harbor or coastal area, who is hired by a vessel to help navigate the harbor or coast.

  2. A guide book for maritime navigation.

  3. A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.

  4. A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.

  5. Something serving as a test or trial.

  6. A short plug, sometimes made interchangeable, at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool.

adjective

  1. Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability.

  2. Used to control or activate another device.

  3. Being a vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle/combination.

verb

  1. transitive

    To control (an aircraft or watercraft).

  2. transitive

    To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.

  3. transitive

    To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, television show, etc.)

  4. transitive

    To guide or conduct (a person) somewhere.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A person who knows well the depths and currents of a harbor or coastal area, who is hired by a vessel to help navigate the harbor or coast.

Used this way, pilot is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a nautical use: it is standard at sea and largely unfamiliar ashore.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Sailing/maritime
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use pilot

  • “The pilot safely landed the plane despite the strong winds.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

pilot projectpilot plantfighter pilotpilot programtest pilotpilot studypilot trainingchief pilot

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • pilotingnounInflected form

    The guidance of ships or airplanes from place to place.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • pilot blacksnakenounCompound term

    Large harmless shiny black North American snake.

  • pilot boatnounCompound term

    A boat to carry pilots to and from large ships.

  • pilot breadnounCompound term

    Very hard unsalted biscuit or bread.

  • pilot burnernounCompound term

    Small auxiliary gas burner that provides a flame to ignite a larger gas burner.

  • pilot chartnounCompound term

    A chart for a navigator showing the prevailing meteorological and hydrographic and navigational conditions.

  • pilot clothnounCompound term

    A thick blue cloth used to make overcoats and coats for sailors etc.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • pilotless aircraftnounRelated term

    An aircraft without a pilot that is operated by remote control.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.