1
a
: one employed to steer a ship : helmsman
b
: a person who is qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in specified waters
c
: a person who flies or is qualified to fly an aircraft or spacecraft
3
4
: a piece that guides a tool or machine part
5
: a television show produced and filmed or taped as a sample of a proposed series
piloted; piloting; pilots
1
: to act as a guide to : lead or conduct over a usually difficult course
2
a
: to set and conn the course of
pilot a ship
b
: to act as pilot of
pilot a plane
: serving as a guiding or tracing device, an activating or auxiliary unit, or a trial apparatus or operation
a pilot study
Examples of pilot in a Sentence
Noun
the airline is seeking experienced pilots to fly the new airplane
Verb
He is learning how to pilot a helicopter.
He skillfully piloted the ship into port during the storm.
Adjective
The group conducted a pilot program.
a new pilot program to train inner-city residents for jobs in the tech sector
Recent Examples on the Web
Tanya Melendez, EW.com, 9 May 2025
Artificial intelligence — particularly generative AI — drives this resurgence as enterprises rapidly shift from pilot projects to full-scale production deployments.
—Tim Bajarin, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025
Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 8 May 2025
Two additional men, accused of piloting and refueling the smuggling boat, were apprehended shortly after the vessel washed ashore.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 May 2025
Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2025
The pilot episode of The Baldwins, TLC’s new reality show about actor Alec Baldwin and his family, is one of the darkest and most bizarre hours of television to appear in recent memory.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pilot
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Noun
Mike stages a fake interview — à la the pilot episode, Barbri legal handbook and all — and insists Harvey get rid of his too-fat ties.
—Tanya Melendez, EW.com, 9 May 2025
Artificial intelligence — particularly generative AI — drives this resurgence as enterprises rapidly shift from pilot projects to full-scale production deployments.
—Tim Bajarin, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025
Verb
Microsoft has also piloted a tool that uses AI to analyze phone conversations to determine whether a call may be fraudulent and alert the user accordingly.
—Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 8 May 2025
Two additional men, accused of piloting and refueling the smuggling boat, were apprehended shortly after the vessel washed ashore.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 May 2025
Adjective
The complaint claimed that when Crichton sold Warner Bros. the screenplay for what became the pilot episode of ER, Warner Bros. promised that no subsequent productions derived from ER would go forward without Crichton’s consent.
—Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 10 Apr. 2025
The pilot episode of The Baldwins, TLC’s new reality show about actor Alec Baldwin and his family, is one of the darkest and most bizarre hours of television to appear in recent memory.
—Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pilot
Cite this Entry
“Pilot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pilot. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pilot
2 of 3 verb
: to act as pilot of : guide
pilot
3 of 3 adjective
: serving as a guiding or tracing device, as an activating or auxiliary unit, or to test a new invention or idea
a pilot study
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