1
a
: a pit or enclosure for cockfights
b
: a place noted for especially bloody, violent, or long-continued conflict
2
obsolete
: the pit of a theater
3
: a compartment in a sailing warship used as quarters for junior officers and for treatment of the wounded in an engagement
4
: a space or compartment in a usually small vehicle (such as a boat, airplane, or automobile) from which it is steered, piloted, or driven see airplane illustration
Examples of cockpit in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The double crew cabin, meanwhile, can be accessed directly from the cockpit for greater privacy.
—
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 19 Dec. 2025
Their stunning performance had been overshadowed by two deaths on other boats, both caused by ‘crash gybes’, an accidental maneuver when the boom (the solid spar that spans the bottom edge of the sail) suddenly sweeps across the top of the cockpit at high speed.
—Andrew Rice, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
Ricard leaned his head into the cockpit.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
The result is digressive, elliptical, and occasionally absurd—and yet also genuinely revealing of the mental-health challenges facing pilots and the sometimes brutal social dynamics of the cockpit.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cockpit
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Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 19 Dec. 2025
Their stunning performance had been overshadowed by two deaths on other boats, both caused by ‘crash gybes’, an accidental maneuver when the boom (the solid spar that spans the bottom edge of the sail) suddenly sweeps across the top of the cockpit at high speed.
—Andrew Rice, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025
Ricard leaned his head into the cockpit.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 10 Dec. 2025
The result is digressive, elliptical, and occasionally absurd—and yet also genuinely revealing of the mental-health challenges facing pilots and the sometimes brutal social dynamics of the cockpit.
—Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cockpit
Cite this Entry
“Cockpit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cockpit. Accessed 27 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cockpit
noun
cock·pit
ˈkäk-ˌpit 
: a space or compartment in a usually small vehicle (as a boat, airplane, or automobile) from which it is steered, piloted, or driven
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