cockpit

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The space in the fuselage of a small airplane containing seats for the pilot, copilot, and sometimes passengers.
2. n. The space set apart for the pilot and crew, as in a helicopter, large airliner, or transport aircraft.
3. n. The driver's compartment in a racing car.
4. n. A pit or enclosed area for cockfights.
5. n. A place where many battles have been fought.
6. n. Nautical A compartment in an old warship below the water line, used as quarters for junior officers and as a station for the wounded during a battle.
7. n. Nautical An area in a small decked vessel toward the stern, lower than the rest of the deck, from which the vessel is steered.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A pit or inclosed place used for cock-fighting.
2. n. Formerly, an apartment under the lower gun-deck of a ship of war, forming quarters for junior officers, and during a battle devoted to the surgeon and his assistants and patients.
3. n. A room in Westminster in which the English Privy Council hold their sittings: so called from its occupation of the site of the former cockpit of the palace at Whitehall.
4. n. The pit or area of a theater.
5. n. A place which is or has been the scene of many contests or battles: as, an ecclesiastical cockpit; “Belgium, … the cockpit of Europe,”

Wiktionary

1. n. The space for those in control of a nautical, aeronautical, or astronautical vessel.
2. n. obsolete, nautical The compartment set aside for the care of wounded during naval engagements; the sickbay.
3. n. nautical A well, usually near the stern, where the helm is located.
4. n. An enclosure for cockfights.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A pit, or inclosed area, for cockfights.
2. n. The Privy Council room at Westminster; -- so called because built on the site of the cockpit of Whitehall palace.
3. n. That part of a war vessel appropriated to the wounded during an engagement.
4. n. In yachts and other small vessels, a space lower than the rest of the deck, which affords easy access to the cabin.
5. n. In airplanes or boats, the space where the pilot or operator sits to control the vehicle. In airplanes it is usually in the front of the fuselage. In larger airplanes it may be closed off from the cabin, where the passengers travel.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. compartment where the pilot sits while flying the aircraft
2. n. seat where the driver sits while driving a racing car
3. n. a pit for cockfights