pilot

Everyday

1. A pilot is a person who flies a plane or helicopter. tree →
2. A person who guides big ships into a harbour. tree →
3. (verb) To pilot is to fly or steer something. tree →
4. A pilot test or project is a small first try to see if something works. tree →
5. On a long sea voyage, the pilot is the sailor who works out which way the ship should go. tree →

In the lessons

Used in stories and jobs lessons: the pilot flies the plane and the cabin crew look after passengers. In everyday life: "the pilot light" of a gas boiler. Phrase: "on autopilot" means doing something without thinking.

Examples

• The pilot flew the plane over the sea. tree →
• She wants to be a pilot when she grows up. tree →
• The pilot told us to fasten our seat belts. tree →
• A pilot boat guided the ship into the port. tree →
• He piloted the helicopter to the hospital. tree →
• The school is running a pilot of the new reading app. tree →
• I was on autopilot and walked the wrong way. tree →
• Jason was appointed commander-in-chief of the expedition, Tiphys acted as steersman, Lynceus as pilot. tree →

Note

Countable: a pilot. Both men and women are pilots. Related: co-pilot, autopilot.

In Jewish tradition

A sailor who steers a ship, here those of Tyre.

Interpretation. Ezekiel's lament over Tyre shows a proud trading city whose skilled sailors cannot save it. The tradition reads it as a warning against pride in wealth.

Examples

• At the sound of the cry of thy pilots the waves shall shake. (Prophets EZK.27.28, JPS 1917) tree →
• The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy rowers; thy wise men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy pilots. (Prophets EZK.27.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land, (Prophets EZK.27.29, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable: a pilot. Both men and women are pilots. Related: co-pilot, autopilot.