cockpit

noun

cock·​pit ˈkäk-ˌpit 

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 two pilots of American Airlines Flight 5342 and the three-member Army crew aboard the helicopter are all dead, though transcripts from their cockpit recorders have offered some detail into their final minutes. —Adam Carlson, PEOPLE, 13 Nov. 2025

Advertisement Stafford depressurized the cockpit, matching the vacuum inside to the vacuum outside so that the hatch would not blow open and fly free from interior air pressure when it was unlatched. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 11 Nov. 2025

All that was left — the cockpit and one wing. —Brad Schmitt, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Nov. 2025

The cockpit lacks an infotainment screen, but there is USB charging plus a phone holder. —New Atlas, 10 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1556, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing cockpit

• cockpit voice recorder

Rhymes for cockpit

• acquit
• admit
• amrit
• armpit
• backlit
• befit
• commit
• dalit
• dendrite
• emit
• illite
• misfit

Kids 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