1 a person who operates the controls of an aircraft, especially as a job:
an airline pilot * a fighter pilot * The accident was caused by pilot error.
seealsoAUTOMATICPILOT, AUTOPILOT, CO-PILOT, TESTPILOT
2 a person with special knowledge of a difficult area of water, for example, a canal, the entrance to a harbour, etc., whose job is to guide ships through it
3 a single television programme that is made in order to find out whether people will like it and want to watch further programmes
4 = PILOTLIGHT
verb [VN]
1 to fly an aircraft or guide a ship; to act as a pilot:
The plane was piloted by the instructor. * The captain piloted the boat into a mooring.
2 ~ sth (through sth) to guide sb/sth somewhere, especially through a complicated place or system:
She piloted a bill on the rights of part-time workers through parliament.
3 to test a new product, idea, etc. with a few people or in a small area before it is introduced everywhere
adjective [onlybeforenoun] done on a small scale in order to see if sth is successful enough to do on a large scale:
a pilot project / study / survey * a pilot episode (= of a radio or television series)
