pilot

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One who operates or is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight.
2. n. 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. n. Nautical The helmsman of a ship.
4. n. One who guides or directs a course of action for others.
5. n. The part of a tool, device, or machine that leads or guides the whole.
6. n. A pilot light, as in a stove.
7. n. A television program produced as a prototype of a series being considered for adoption by a network.
8. v. To serve as the pilot of.
9. v. To steer or control the course of. See Synonyms at guide.
10. adj. Serving as a tentative model for future experiment or development: a pilot project.
11. adj. Serving or leading as guide.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The steersman of a ship; that one of a ship's crew who has charge of the helm and the ship's course; specifically, one who works a ship into and out of harbor, or through a channel or passage. In this specific sense the pilot is a person possessing local knowledge of shallows, rocks, currents, channels, etc., licensed by public authority to steer vessels into and out of particular harbors, or along certain coasts, etc., and rendering such special service for a compensation, fixed usually with reference to the draft of water and the distance.
2. n. A guide; a director of the course of others; one who has the conduct of any affair requiring knowledge and judgment.
3. n. Same as cow-catcher. See cut under passenger-engine.
4. n. A book of sailing-directions.
5. n. Pilot-cloth.
6. n. The pilot-fish.
7. n. The black-bellied plover, Squatarola helvetica.
8. To steer; direct the course of, especially through an intricate or perilous passage; guide through dangers or difficulties.
9. n. In machinery, a smaller element acting in advance of another or principal element of the same sort, and causing the latter to come into play when desired.

Wiktionary

1. n. A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
2. n. A person who knows well the depths and currents of a harbor or coastal area, who is hired by a vessel to help navigate the harbor or coast.
3. n. A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.
4. n. A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
5. n. A sample episode of a proposed TV series
6. n. A cowcatcher.
7. n. A pilot light.
8. adj. Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability. (pilot run, pilot plant)
9. adj. Used to control or activate another device. (pilot light)
10. adj. Used to indicate operation ("pilot lamp")
11. v. To control (an aircraft or watercraft).
12. v. To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.
13. v. To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, etc.)

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One employed to steer a vessel; a helmsman; a steersman.
2. n. Specifically, a person duly qualified, and licensed by authority, to conduct vessels into and out of a port, or in certain waters, for a fixed rate of fees.
3. n. Figuratively: A guide; a director of another through a difficult or unknown course.
4. n. An instrument for detecting the compass error.
5. n. The cowcatcher of a locomotive.
6. n. One who flies, or is qualified to fly, an airplane, balloon, or other flying machine.
7. n. A short plug at the end of a counterbore to guide the tool. Pilots are sometimes made interchangeable.
8. n. The heading or excavation of relatively small dimensions, first made in the driving of a larger tunnel.
9. n. a filmed or taped episode of a proposed television series, produced as an example of the series. It may be shown only to those television broadcast executives who may decide whether to buy the rights to the series, or aired to test viewer reaction or to interest sponsors. Also called pilot film or pilot tape.
10. v. To direct the course of, as of a ship, where navigation is dangerous.
11. v. Figuratively: To guide, as through dangers or difficulties.
12. v. To fly, or act as pilot of (an aircraft); to operate (an airplane).

WordNet 3.0

1. n. someone who is licensed to operate an aircraft in flight
2. n. a program exemplifying a contemplated series; intended to attract sponsors
3. n. an inclined metal frame at the front of a locomotive to clear the track
4. n. a person qualified to guide ships through difficult waters going into or out of a harbor
5. n. small auxiliary gas burner that provides a flame to ignite a larger gas burner
6. v. operate an airplane
7. v. act as the navigator in a car, plane, or vessel and plan, direct, plot the path and position of the conveyance
8. n. something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies