pilot

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Having on board a Charleston pilot, as well as one for Wilmington, I had not determined, on sailing, which port to attempt; but having made the land near Charleston bar during thick weather on the night of the 28th, our pilot was afraid to venture further.

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Definitions (36)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (12)

  1. noun One who operates or is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight.
  2. noun Nautical One who, though not belonging to a ship's company, is licensed to conduct a ship into and out of port or through dangerous waters.
  3. noun Nautical The helmsman of a ship.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (14)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • Your value as a pilot is being able to do these things should the wiz bangs go wiz bang.
  • From what I've read it sounds as if the pilot is a genuine hero. —  NewMexiKen
  • Buddy Valastro - from Carlo's Bake Shop has a TV show called "Cake Boss" - and the pilot is appearing on TLC tonight. —  Hoboken 411
  • This pilot is a hero, and his superb training and personal courage created a miracle. —  CTV News RSS Feed
  • Yeah, the pilot is an awesome human being, no doubt. —  WordPress.com News
 

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This word has been looked up 143 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

engineer ·  captain ·  driver ·  crow ·  fighter ·  sailor ·  aircraft ·  personnel ·  doctor ·  crew ·  passenger ·  worker

Used in the same contextWord Family

pilot:   piloting ·  pilots
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Obsolete French, helmsman, from Old French, from Old Italian pilota, alteration of pedota, from Medieval Greek *pēdōtēs, from Greek pēda, steering oar, pl. of pēdon, blade of an oar; see ped- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also pilotte, pylate; from Old French pilot, French pilote = Spanish Portuguese piloto = Italian piloto, pilota (Middle Latin pilotus, pilota), a pilot; cf. Middle Dutch pilote, piloot, pijloot, pijlloot (Kilian), peilloot (Sewel), Dutch piloot = Middle Low German pilote, a pilot; origin uncertain; apparently, through Old French piloter, pilotier, “to sound the depth of water with a line and plummet” (Cotgrave), from Middle Dutch *peylloot, *peilloot, Dutch peillood, a sounding-lead (= German peil-loth, sounding-lead, plummet), from peylen, pijlen (Kilian), Dutch peilen (= German peilen, take soundings) (contr. of Middle Dutch pegelen, measure the capacity of anything, from pegel, the capacity of a vessel's gage), + loot, Dutch lood = German loth = English lead: see lead.
  2. from French piloter, pilot; from the noun.
 

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/ˈpaɪlət/
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