pilots

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of pilot.

   Two pilots share the cockpit duties on long-haul flights.

   The airline trains its pilots on a full-motion simulator each year.

   Note

   The plural reaches well beyond the cockpit. Maritime pilots include helmsmen and the harbor specialists a vessel hires because they know the local depths and currents. A ship's shelf may hold pilots too, meaning navigation guidebooks. In Australia, pilots are escort vehicles and the people authorized to drive them. The same spelling also serves as the verb in "she pilots".

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of pilot.

   She pilots a cargo plane across the Pacific each month.

   An experienced captain pilots the ferry through the foggy strait.

   Note

   The object usually decides the meaning. A captain pilots a ferry, and a harbor expert pilots a vessel through coastal waters. A company pilots a new product or show to test it before committing, and a host pilots a guest to a seat. The railway use is the odd one: the engine that pilots is the leading locomotive on a double-headed train.

   The school pilots the new reading program this term before rolling it out district-wide.

   The network pilots each comedy with a single episode first.

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