| 释义 |
▪ I. pilot, n.|ˈpaɪlət|
Also 6 pilotte, pylotte, -lett, -late, 6–7 pilote, pylot(e, 6–8 pilate, 7 pilat.
[a. early mod.F. pillotte (1529 in Hatz.-Darm.), pillot, pilot (1530), mod.F. pilote, ad. It. pilota, -to (so Sp., Pg. piloto med.L. pilōtus, 1486 in Rymer XII. 300), supposed to be altered, perh. by popular etymology, from It. pedota (Florio), pedotta (Du Cange), in OF. pedot (Geste des Chiprois c 1500). Cf. It. pedoto, pedotto rudder, steersman, beacon. (Breusing (Niederdeutsches Jahrb. V.) suggests ad. late Gr. *πηδώτης steersman, f. πηδόν an oar, in pl. rudder.)
Du. piloot, in 16–17th c. pijlloot (Kilian), pijloot (Hexham), mod.Ger. pilot, are from Fr.]
1. a. One who steers or directs the course of a ship; a steersman, helmsman; spec. a person duly qualified to steer ships into and out of a harbour, or wherever the navigation requires local knowledge.
1530Palsgr. 254/1 Pylotte that governeth a shippe, pilot. 1549Thomas Hist. Italie 74 When any shippe cometh in, she taketh fyrst pilottes to sounde the waie. a1568Satir. Poems Reform. xlvi. 3 Quhat pylett takis my schip in chairge. 1578T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 4 His pilote was not expert in that nauigation. 1581W. Stafford Exam. Compl. i. (1876) 26 What Ship can bee longe safe from wracke, where euery man will take vpon him to bee a Pylate? 1624Capt. Smith Virginia i. 1 King Henry the eight..made him [S. Cabot] grand Pilate of England. c1645Howell Lett. i. xxvii. (1650) 44 Ther are Pylots, that in small Shallops, are ready to steer all ships that passe. a1694Tillotson Serm. lii. (1742) IV. 490 An experienced pilate and seaman. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. i. 8, I was like a ship without a pilot, that could only run before the wind. 1847James Convict ii, A large shaggy great coat commonly at that time used by pilots.
b. transf. and fig. One who or that which serves as a guide through some unknown place or through a dangerous or difficult course of affairs; a guide; a leader in the hunting-field; esp. a skilled guide employed on land.
1593Shakes. Lucr. 279 Desire my Pilot is, Beautie my prise. 1653A. Wilson Jas. I 161 The Pilots of the Commonwealth had an eye to the dangers that lay in the way. 1672J. Paine Jrnl. in Publ. Colonial Soc. Mass. (1917) XVIII. 189 Wee mett with ye Riuor Hosick wch wee Set or corse for by Direction of or Indian Pilate and ther..wee dismounted. 1710T. Buckingham in S. Knight Jrnls. (1825) 94 Mr. Christophers and myself, having provided horses and a pilot, set out for Boston. 1800–24Campbell To Sir F. Burdett i, For forty years the pilot of reform! 1802G. Canning Song in Lyra Elegant. (1867) No. 199 Here's to the pilot [i.e. Pitt] that weather'd the storm! 1847J. Palmer Jrnl. Trav. Rocky Mts. 15 In case the company would elect him pilot, and pay him five hundred dollars, in advance, he would bind himself to pilot them to fort Vancouver. 1883Mrs. Kennard Right Sort ix, To take compassion upon an unprotected female, and constitute himself her pilot for a few days. 1887M. E. Braddon Like & Unlike xi, He was my pilot through some of our best runs. 1927Dialect Notes V. 459 Pilot, the boy who accompanies a blind beggar. The American ‘Lazarillo’. 1936I. L. Idriess Cattle King vii. 63 A squatter was overlanding with a big mob of stock, his wagons loaded with a year's supplies. He had taken up country on the ‘blind’, without ever having seen it... He needed a pilot to show him the waterholes on his own country.
c. Short for pilot boat, car, engine, light.
1883F. M. A. Roe Army Lett. (1909) 313 It requires two engines to pull even the passenger trains up, and when the divide is reached the ‘pilot’ is uncoupled and run down ahead. 1896Daily News 16 Nov. 4/3 It was..ten minutes past one when Mr. Lawson, in his pilot, came in, having repaired on the way. 1904Westm. Gaz. 1 Sept. 3/1 Uncertainty..as to whether the pilot was going through with the train or intending to pass to the siding. 1964E. Berckman Simple Case of Ill-Will x. 98, I smelled gas!.. There's a pilot on your cooker, an open flame. 1973R. L. Simon Big Fix (1974) vi. 48 All the lights were out except for a couple of pilots beneath the tape decks.
d. One who controls an aircraft, balloon, spacecraft, or the like during flight, usu. a person duly qualified to do so. automatic pilot: see automatic a. 2.
1848Sporting Life 12 Aug. 289/1 The aëronautic race was conducted by Lieutenant Gale and Professor Gypson,..the latter acting as the pilot of the Royal Albion. 1851Illustr. London News 13 Sept. 330/2 We..threw out more ballast.., and descended..in a..field. I fell.., and the car over us all; while ‘the pilot who had weathered the storm’ was thrown with..violence from among the cordage. 1852Ibid. 18 Sept. 224/3 ‘Sit still, all of you, I say!’ roared our pilot, as he saw some one endeavouring to leave the car. Ibid., Indeed, long shall we all remember the pleasant night we passed with the old ethereal pilot on his 500th ascent with the Royal Nassau Balloon. 1899English Mechanic 14 July 480/3 The new machine..is said to be able to carry in its car as many as six men and travel easily at a rate of 100 miles an hour under the absolute mastery of its engineer and pilot. 1907Navigating the Air (Aero Club Amer.) 247 In order to qualify as a pilot one must make ten ascensions, one of which must be made at night, and two of which must be made alone. 1913, etc. [see air pilot s.v. air n.1 B. III. 4]. 1916, etc. [see fly v.1 1 g]. 1936, etc. [see bush pilot s.v. bush n.1 11]. 1953‘N. Shute’ In Wet v. 136 This was the first Ceres that had visited Edmonton, and a small crowd of pilots and R.C.A.F. officers gathered around it on the tarmac. 1962Into Orbit 243 Backup pilot, an Astronaut who..may go on the mission himself if the Astronaut named as pilot is unable to make the flight at the last minute. 1974Daily Tel. 14 June 8/4 Among the pilots flying this weekend will be Charles Dollfus, 83-year-old leading French balloonist who has been flying since 1911. 1978Dumfries Courier 13 Oct. 9/1 He..would like other hang-glider ‘pilots’ in the area to contact him with a view to starting a Dumfriesshire Hang-Gliding Club.
e. to drop the pilot: to abandon a trustworthy adviser.
After a cartoon by J. Tenniel in Punch, 20 Mar., 1890 depicting the recent dismissal of Bismarck from the Chancellorship of Germany by William II.
1926G. M. Trevelyan Hist. Eng. iv. vi. 456 In face of these signs Charles decided to ‘drop the pilot’. It was indeed tempting to make a scapegoat of Clarendon. 1958J. Raymond England's on Anvil! 149 The Kaiser is aged thirty. He has been on the throne a year and is already preparing to ‘drop the pilot’, get rid of Bismarck. 1979D. Gurr Troika vi. 32 Khruschev'll be dropping that pilot before they clear the river.
f. Short for pilot film, plant, programme, etc.: see sense 8 b below.
1962Listener 18 Oct. 633/2 A little tighter and tauter and the production would have looked for all the world like a pilot for a new series. 1971M. Babson Cover-up Story xiv. 153, I came by..to talk over a few points before we started filming the pilot tomorrow. 1971Guardian 26 Feb. 13/4 Sir Lew Grade..gave an uncharacteristically terse ‘no comment’ when asked if he had made any pilots in the recent past. 1971Inside Kenya Today Mar. 9/1 If this pilot is successful an important export oriented mining enterprise will be established. 1973Nation (Barbados) 16 Dec. 2/2 He has recently signed to be..a star in a pilot for a television series which is being written by Everett Chambers. 1975Radio Times 30 Aug.–5 Sept. 14/3 It was only a pilot which would not be seen by the general public. 1977Time Out 17–23 June 16/2 Thames' fourth telefilm in three days. Repeat of the pilot for a never-made series about a big city newspaper.
g. A jockey.
1976Horse & Hound 10 Dec. 41/1 He was to underline his Epsom misfortune by streaking home in the Irish Sweeps Derby, when his French pilot was replaced by Geoff Lewis. 1976M. Maguire Scratchproof iv. 54 Will Highwayman jump the fence without a pilot?
2. = pilot-cloth (see sense 8).
1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. iii. 110 Each buyer is invited..to look at some ‘olives’, or ‘browns’, or ‘pilots’. 1887Daily News 23 Feb. 2/6 Heavy tweeds, unions, meltons, pilots, and other cheap fabrics.
3. = cow-catcher. U.S.
1864Webster, Pilot...3. The cow-catcher of a locomotive. (U.S.) 1883E. Ingersoll in Harper's Mag. Jan. 198/2 There is no cab,..no pilot, head-light, or any other appurtenances of an ordinary locomotive. 1891C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 247 Most English people know the wedge-shaped pilot in front of the American engine well enough by repute to recognise it.
4. a. The copperhead = pilot-snake (c). b. = pilot-fish 1. c. The black-bellied plover, Squatarola helvetica.
1782Crevecoeur Lett. 236 The most dangerous one is the pilot, or copperhead:..it bears the first name because it always precedes the rattle-snake; that is, quits its state of torpidity in the spring a week before the other. 1835Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XII. 185 note, The pilot swims constantly in front of the shark... When the sea-angel neared the ship, the pilot swam close to the snout, or near one of the breast fins of the animal. 1888G. Trumbull Names & Portr. Birds 192 On the coast of Virginia..the name of Pilot has been given, as it is always seen leading the large flights of birds which the rising tides drive from the shoals and oyster rocks.
5. An instrument for correcting the error of a compass.
1892in Webster.
6. Telecommunications. An unmodulated signal transmitted with another signal for purposes of reference or control. Freq. attrib., as pilot carrier, pilot tone, etc.
1935Proc. IRE XXIII. 702 The high degree of frequency stability required for single side-band suppressed-carrier transmissions can be dispensed with by transmitting a pilot frequency over the channel. 1957D. G. Fink Television Engin. Handbk. xviii. 31 The L3 system makes use of six pilots for dynamic regulating and equalizing purposes. These are 308, 556, 2,064, 3,096, 7,266, and 8,320 kc. Ibid. xvi. 249 Oscillator-frequency drift causes picture-hue shift by changing the signal location on the phase characteristics of the pilot carrier and sideband circuits. 1962C. F. Boyce Open-Wire Carrier Telephone Transmission vii. 95 Over the 3-channel carrier range a single pilot can regulate for changes in flat and slope loss... In a 12-channel system two pilots, one at each end of the band, are required. 1966M. Schwartz et al. Communication Syst. & Techniques xi. 492 One technique for monitoring the channel state in a digital signaling system would be to transmit a pilot tone (unmodulated tone) along with the information-bearing waveforms. 1974H. Burstein Q. & A. about Tape Recording (1975) xv. 194 The FM stereo broadcast contains a 19 kHz pilot signal. 1974Harvey & Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. ii. 23 The reason for using a 19 kHz oscillator in the signal encoder now becomes clearer, since the oscillator provides a reference between the transmitted 19 kHz pilot tone and the 38 kHz subcarrier feed to the balanced modulator. 1975Which? Sept. 278/3 An FM stereo radio signal has three parts. The main one is a mono signal... The extra information the tuner needs to produce stereo is in the other two parts—a sub-carrier and a pilot tone.
7. Elect. = pilot wire in 8.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 644/1 Pilot, in power systems, a conductor used for auxiliary purposes, not for the transmission of energy. 1957M. D. Kippen in E. O. Taylor Power Syst. Communications i. 6 It has been the policy of many city undertakings when laying power cables to lay protection pilots and, in some cases, telephone pilots in the same trench. 1966W. J. Cheetham in Taylor & Boal Electr. Power Distribution 415V–33kV iii. 125 Post-office pilots are much more prone to interference during maintenance work on adjacent communication circuits.
8. a. attrib. and Comb., Of or pertaining to a pilot or pilots, as pilot-brig, pilot-craft, pilot-cutter, pilot error, pilot-ground, pilot-launch, pilot-schooner, pilot-sloop, pilot-tower, pilot-vessel; that acts as a pilot or in any way as a guide, as pilot-balloon, pilot-engine, pilot-locomotive, pilot-star, pilot-train, pilot-tunnel, pilot-wheel; pilot biscuit U.S., ship's biscuit; pilot-bread (see quot. 1858); pilot cable Electr. = pilot wire below; pilot chute or 'chute (see quot. 1925); pilot-cloth (see quot. 1858); pilot-coat = pea-jacket; pilot driver, an engine-driver who accompanies another over a route with which the latter is unfamiliar; pilot-flag = pilot-jack; pilot-flame = pilot-light; pilot-frame, a low truck supporting the fore-part of a locomotive engine: = bogie 2; pilot guard (see quot. 1921); pilot-house, an enclosed place on the deck of a ship, sheltering the steering-gear and the helmsman; the wheel-house; also (U.S.), a house on land in which a pilot lives or stays; pilot-jack: see quots.; pilot-jacket = pea-jacket; pilot lamp = pilot light (c); pilot light, (a) a minute gas-light kept burning beside a large burner, so as automatically to light the latter when the flow through is turned on; † (b) a small light left permanently on to provide illumination; (c) a small electric light used to give an indication or warning rather than illumination; † pilot-major, a chief pilot; also, an honorary title conferred on distinguished discoverers and sailors; pilot-man, a railway official who directs the movement of trains over a section of track being temporarily used as a single line; also, a pilot driver; pilot officer, a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, equivalent to a second lieutenant in the Army; pilot parachute = pilot chute; pilot's anchor: see quot.; pilot-snake, (a) a large N. American snake, Coluber obsoletus; (b) the pine-snake, Pituophis melanoleucus; (c) the copperhead; pilot valve Engin., a small auxiliary valve that is operated in association with a larger valve; pilot-water (also pilot's water), a piece of water in which the service of a pilot is obligatory; pilot-weed, the compass-plant, Silphium laciniatum; pilot-whale, the round-headed porpoise or ca'ing whale; pilot wire Electr., an auxiliary wire or cable for conveying information about an associated power line or telegraph line or for operating apparatus connected with one. Also pilot-bird, -boat, -fish.
1802Sporting Mag. XX. 295/1 A *Pilot Balloon, as it is called, was first launched. 1846Mrs. Gore Sk. Eng. Char. (1852) 155 To..send up..such a pilot-balloon as might fore-arm and forewarn his patron of the object of their mission. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Pilot-balloon, a small balloon sent up to try the wind. 1924Pilot balloon [see ballon-sonde]. 1942Endeavour I. 118/2 The information on temperature is obtained from pilot-balloons—small balloons carrying a cage of instruments to read temperature,..at the altitude at which the balloon is set to burst, the cage then falling safely to earth.
1836T. Power Impressions Amer. I. 21 Lift a piece of *pilot biscuit, request some kind soul to shave the under side of the corned round for you, then..fly the place and seek the deck. 1944Chicago Daily News 11 Oct. 25/1 The pilot biscuit—great flat round crackers that may be purchased at the grocer's—were toasted and lightly spread with butter.
1788Maryland Jrnl. 7 Mar. 4/2 (Advt.), The subscriber..has just begun to bake Ship, *Pilot, and Cag Bread. 1831[see navy bread]. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Pilot-bread, a name in the West Indies for hard or ship biscuit. 1868B. J. Lossing Hudson 28 A sufficient stock of Boston crackers, pilot-bread, or common loaf bread. 1894Outing XXIV. 252/2 He quickly wrapped up some pilot-bread. 1977New Yorker 9 May 112/2 With..six pieces of pilot bread, he got into his single Klepper and bobbed down the river.
1844J. Tomlin Mission. Jrnls. 368 We met with another *pilot brig going up to Calcutta.
1937H. Cotton Transmission & Distribution of Electr. Energy xv. 349 The pilot wires are usually in the form of a three-core cable, which can be buried in the ground in the case of an insulated cable system, or slung from the towers in the case of an overhead system. Apart from the high cost of these *pilot cables, [etc.]. 1967M. F. Buchan Electr. Supply x. 296 As the two ends of the system may be some distance apart, an information link is required, and this may be a pilot cable, a radio link, or carrier currents superimposed on the system itself.
1925Sci. Amer. Mar. 203/2 The majority of parachutes are equipped with a ‘*pilot chute’ which is a miniature structure made with ribs and spring in umbrella fashion. When the pilot pulls the ‘rip cord’..the ‘pilot chute’ springs out, catches the air and helps to lead out the main parachute. 1973‘A. Hall’ Tango Briefing x. 118 Free fall... Seven, eight, nine. Pull it. Crack of the pilot 'chute. Then the jerk and the drag.
1834W. F. Tolmie Jrnls. (1963) 262 Have donned *pilot cloth vest. 1840Knickerbocker XV. 140 His winter clothing is usually a peet jacket and trowsers, of strong pilot cloth. 1851H. Melville Whale xvi. 78 Rolled up in blue pilot-cloth. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Pilot-cloth, an indigo blue woollen cloth, used for great coats, and for the clothing of mariners and others.
1836Dickens Sk. Boz. (1837) 2nd Ser. 96 *Pilot great coats with wooden buttons, have usurped the place of the ponderous laced coats with full skirts. 1840Spirit of Times 9 May 116/2 A young man attired in a pilot coat and velvet stock. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes I. ii. 41 The captain comes down again, in a sou'-wester hat..and a pilot-coat. 1858Trollope Three Clerks I. ii. 29 A short bargee's pilot-coat, and a pipe of tobacco, were soon familiar to him. 1884F. M. Crawford Amer. Politician II. ii. 30 Enormous Irishmen in pilot coats..were struggling to keep the drifts from the pavement.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Pilot cutter, a very handy sharp built sea-boat used by pilots.
1907Westm. Gaz. 15 Feb. 7/1 Drivers should not be allowed to drive an engine over a road that they were not acquainted with without a *pilot driver.
1838Chr. in Ann. Reg. 40/1 His engine came into collision with another *pilot engine. 1955Railway Mag. May 302/1 A halt was made at Blarney, to detach the pilot engine.
1975Times 3 Sept. 1/2 Last year the International Air Transport Association said that half of all air accidents were caused by *pilot error. 1978J. Gardner Dancing Dodo xxxii. 252 The thing went wrong... If they wanted accuracy, they needed men to ensure it. What they got was..pilot error, or malfunction.
1895Funk's Stand. Dict., Pilot-light..called also *pilot⁓flame.
1843J. Weale Ensamples Railway Making p. xx, Engines having..what is termed a truck or *pilot frame.
1854J. L. Stephens Centr. Amer. 1 Avoiding altogether the regular *pilot-ground, at midnight [we] reached St. George's Bay.
1881Instructions to Census Clerks (1885) 33, 78 Railway Guard... *Pilot Guard. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §702 Pilot guard, a guard..who pilots trains over portion of line where single line working is necessitated, or over bridges under repair.
1812A. Stoddard Sk. Louisiana 160 On the south side of the east pass, about three miles from the bar, is the *pilot house. 1827J. L. Williams View of West Florida 18 A small fort and pilot house formerly stood near the west end of the island. 1846Spirit of Times 16 May 133/1 He placed his hand upon a small brass knob at the back of the pilot house. 1863‘G. Hamilton’ Gala-Days 120 An Indian pilot comes on board, and mounts to the pilot-house. 1883American VI. 40 A seaman might rise from the forward deck to the pilot-house and the master's quarters. 1897W. B. Yeats Secret Rose 207 The disused pilot-house looks out to sea. 1900Everbody's Mag. III. 529 The pilot-house, a wrought-iron structure situated well forward near the bow, and projecting 4 ft. above the deck. 1967Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967–68 34/2 Forward of the well..is the pilothouse. 1977I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief i. i. 7 Alone in the pilothouse..stood Wesley Jordache. 1977Washington Post 4 Sept. a12/1 The top tier of this floating cake is the ‘pilot house’— what a seagoing sailor would call the ‘bridge’.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Pilot-jack. 1894C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 96 When surrounded by a white border it [the ‘jack’]..is a signal for a pilot, and..it is known as a ‘Pilot jack’.
1840Marryat Poor Jack xxxviii, The..men..had lain down in their gregos and *pilot-jackets.
1884Jrnl. Soc. Telegr. Engin. XIII. 515 As the speed began to increase, the lamp lit up intermittently, but in a few seconds more the machines dropped into step together, and the *pilot lamp lit up to full brightness and became perfectly steady. 1906J. Poole Pract. Telephone Handbk. (ed. 3) xvii. 220 Whenever a call is made on any one of these lines the pilot relay is operated, and causes a specially large lamp, called the ‘pilot lamp’, to glow. 1918R. Knox Radiogr. & Radio-Therapeutics II. 437 There is nearly always a pilot lamp on the switchboard by which the tints may be accurately gauged. 1977‘E. Trevor’ Theta Syndrome i. 14 In the main laboratory there were only the pilot lamps going.
1890Cent. Dict., *Pilot-light. a1906Mod. The gas lamps in the streets of Oxford are now furnished with incandescent burners and pilot-lights. 1906Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 26 Jan. 10/1 *Pilot lights have also been placed in all the hallways and dark passages of the building. 1907Daily Chron. 16 Apr. 6/7 This is the ‘pilot’ light, which is never extinguished, which burns night and day from the time a theatre is opened throughout the whole of its existence. 1939I. Baird Waste Heritage x. 130 The radio man clicked on the pilot light and grunts and squeals began to come from the little machine. 1964J. Cheever Wapshot Scandal vi. 58 The pilot light on the gas range isn't working and the cook has to keep lighting the range with matches. 1970Which? Nov. 332/2 A pilot light goes on while the iron is heating. 1972Guardian 2 Dec. 8/8 People were asked to turn their gas taps to ‘off’ so that unlit pilot lights..would not allow gas to seep into their homes when the supply was restored.
1907Westm. Gaz. 21 Sept. 12/2 An antique *pilot-locomotive slouched out and stopped.
1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xi. 155 Cape de Vert, from whence the *Pilote maior returned to Peru. 1820W. Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 72 Richard Chancellor, pilot-major of the fleet. 1894Daily News 18 Sept. 6/1 Vespucci..was finally appointed Pilot-Major to the King of Spain.
1881Instructions to Census Clerks (1885) 33, 77 Railway Engine Driver... Pilot, *Pilot-man. 1921Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §701 Pilotman.., a guard..who accompanies a train between given points on single line, other line being temporarily out of use, to advise driver of difficulties of road, special signalling arrangements, etc. 1971D. J. Smith Discovering Railwayana x. 58 Pilotman, driver taking charge of single-line workings, especially when one line of a double track is under repair.
1919Monthly Air Force List Aug. 15 Air Ministry... Directorate of Personnel... Staff Officers, 3rd Class... Dawes, *Pilot Officer H., Gunn, Pilot Officer D.B. 1935T. S. Sprigg Royal Air Force xii. 91 Accepted candidates who have not had previous experience in the Air Force are entered in the Special Reserve with the rank of Pilot Officer on probation. 1965W. M. W. Fowler Countryman's Cooking p. x, Where the fault lay was obvious even to a very young Pilot Officer. 1975Sunday Times 23 Feb. 19/7 In May, 1943, I was a lowly WAAF serving on a station in Hampshire... My fiancé, Ken, was a pilot officer.
1926*Pilot parachute [see pack n.1 1 g]. 1942A. M. Low Parachutes 41 The effect of pulling the rip-cord was first of all to release the pilot parachute packed on the outside of the pack so that this in turn may draw out the main parachute.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Pilot's anchor, a kedge used for dropping a vessel in a stream or tide-way.
1896Daily News 5 Dec. 5/7 The *pilot-sloop, with half a dozen Exmouth pilots, put off to assist the vessel and get her off.
1853R. B. Marcy Explor. Red River (1854) 196 The names of Bull, Pine, and *Pilot snake are commonly given to different species of this genus [sc. Pituophis]. 1890Cent. Dict., *Pilot-snake, a harmless snake of the United States, Coluber obsoletus. 1890Century Mag. Aug. 615/2, I killed two large snakes called the ‘pilot⁓snake’, from the fact that they are generally found in the vicinity of rattlesnakes. 1946G. Stimpson Bk. about Thousand Things 480 The pilot snake..gets its name from the curious belief that it precedes rattlesnakes and warns them of the approach of danger. 1956L. M. Klauber Rattlesnakes II. xviii. 1244 Another phase of the myth is that pilot snakes are crosses between rattlesnakes and bull snakes.
1791E. Darwin Bot. Gard. ii. 156 High in air..Shone the bright lamp, the *pilot star of Love. 1859Tennyson Enid 1155 Enid, the pilot star of my lone life, Enid, my early and my only love.
1900Daily News 19 May 2/1 The shelling of the armoured *pilot-train on its return journey.
1891Cent. Dict. (s.v. tunnel), *Pilot tunnel, a device for directing a tunnel in the prescribed grade, consisting of a flanged tube made up of interchangeable plates, which can be bolted to the shield and forced concentrically into the silt in advance of the face of the heading. 1906Chambers's Jrnl. 29 Sept. 701/1 Within the small pilot-tunnel a large number of refrigerating tubes is placed. 1958Engineering 18 Apr. 502/1 Short pilot tunnels were driven out from the shore on both sides of the Channel.
1902Internat. Library of Technol. VII. B. §39. 13 For high-speed hydraulic elevators..the relief valve is not sufficient to guard against shocks..nor is it possible to regulate the speed readily... This has led to the introduction of the auxiliary, or *pilot, valve. Ibid. 18 The pilot valve allows a perfect regulation of the speed of the [elevator] car. 1953E. Molloy Maintenance Engineers' Pocket Bk. ii. 67 In large boilers.. pilot valves are often fitted to the main stop valves, and the pilot valve should be opened to warm up the steam main before the main stop valve is opened, thus avoiding the danger of water hammer. 1971H. C. Town Design & Construction of Machine Tools ix. 194 If the reversing valve has to handle large volumes of oil..the reverse valve is better operated by a pilot valve which may be trip operated.
1825Act 6 Geo. IV, c. 125 §3 An Apprenticeship of Five Years to some *Pilot Vessel.
1788Chambers' Cycl. (ed. Rees) s.v. Pilot, A pilot, when conducting one of his majesty's ships in *pilot-water, shall have the sole charge and command of the ship. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Pilot's Fairway, or Pilot's Water, a channel wherein, according to usage, a pilot must be employed.
1848W. H. Emory Notes Mil. Reconn. 11 In the uplands..occasionally is found the wild tea,..and *pilot weed. 1885Girl's Own Paper Jan. 171/1 The compass plant—variously known, also, as the pilot weed, polar plant, and turpentine weed—is a vigorous perennial. 1951Dict. Gardening (R. Hort. Soc.) III. 1957/1 Compass Plant, Pilot Weed, Polar Plant.
1867Athenæum 21 Sept. 373/1 The *pilot whale, Globiocephalus Svinevaly. 1901Shipley & MacBride Zool. xix. 527 The Ca'ing or Pilot Whale.., which also feeds chiefly on cuttle-fish, has teeth in both upper and lower jaws. 1921J. T. Jenkins Hist. Whale Fisheries viii. 268 A third whale fishery practised in northern waters..was that for the Grindhval or Pilot Whale. 1962E. Lucia Klondike Kate ii. 40 At times schools of happy pilot whales followed the vessel. 1974G. B. Corbet in D. L. Hawksworth Changing Flora & Fauna of Brit. xi. 199 Species that are more frequent in the recent period are pilot whale (Globicephala melaena) with 46 strandings between 1948 and 1966.
1890J. W. Urquhart Electric Light (ed. 3) x. 321 It is far more important to be informed as to the actual potential of the mains at the various points of consumption. For low tension constant current systems this is usually accomplished by the use of ‘*pilot wires’. 1930Engineering 12 Sept. 347/1 An examination of the available protective schemes not involving the use of pilot wires had shown that a close approximation to the performance of pilot protective gear could be obtained by the use of distance relays. 1968P. J. Freeman Electr. Power Transmission & Distribution x. 275 On long sections the capacitance currents between the pilot wires may be high enough to operate the relay, causing instability.
b. Used attrib. or as adj. to denote something that serves as a prototype or experimental undertaking prior to full-scale operation, activity, or use; experimental, initial; as pilot film, pilot plant, pilot programme, pilot project, pilot scheme, pilot study, pilot survey, pilot trial; so pilot-scale a., done on the scale of a pilot scheme. Cf. pilot-tunnel above.
1928Daily Mail 13 Aug. 18/2 This company produced 40 tons of tin concentrates with its small pilot mill in the June quarter. 1934Planning I. xvii. 9 Actually research has become specialised not only by subjects but by processes and each process—background, basic, ad hoc and pilot, or whatever else they may be termed—is inseparable from the one before it and from the one after it. 1936Economist 1 Feb. 275/1 The dry crushing and roasting plant treated 186,422 tons [of ore] and the pilot flotation plant 5,688 tons. 1938Rep. R. Comm. Oil from Coal §27 in Parl. Papers 1937–38 (Cmd. 5665) XII. 439 Experimental work started at Billingham early in 1927, and in 1929 it was decided to build a pilot plant there to treat 10 tons of coal per day. 1939Nature 12 Aug. 279/2 The Department of Biochemistry..[has conducted] pilot scale tannery operations to improve the vegetable chrome process. 1944Times 18 Mar. 2/3 The Ministry of Food has recently installed a pilot plant for drying meat near Belfast. 1947Yale Law Jrnl. Dec. 197 They had an opportunity to build a ‘pilot model’, a spacious though inexpensive cooperative in..a Warsaw suburb. 1951(title) The Haiti Pilot Project: Phase One (UNESCO). 1951Chambers's Jrnl. Oct. 638/1 Two recent American developments, both at present in the pilot or experimental stage, may widen the already verstile uses of glass. 1952Pilot reactor [see criticality 2]. 1952W. J. H Sprott Social Psychol. vi. 102 The ‘open-end’ question may be used in a pilot survey, which helps to determine the multiple-answer question. 1952Times 25 Jan. 3/4 The corporation stated that it did not propose to proceed with a large-scale irrigation scheme for rice cultivation until results on a pilot area had shown this to be economically possible. 1953Britannica Bk. of Year 638/2 Pilot scheme (a preliminary to a full scale agricultural or industrial project). 1953Ann. Reg. 1952 416 A new vaccine selected from pilot trials of the previous winter. 1954A. Huxley Let. 12 Dec. (1969) 718 The TV decision would not be made until after the production of a pilot film. 1956Planning XXII. 19 In 1954 the Nottingham Book Festival was organised by a committee of the Booksellers Association as a pilot scheme for a national publicity campaign. 1957Ann. Reg. 1956 348 In Russia it appeared that underground gasification of coal was passing from the pilot stage to industrial operation... In Britain..the Coal Board and the Central Electricity Authority decided to proceed with pilot plant for producing electricity from gas made underground from inferior coal. 1957R. K. Merton Social Theory (rev. ed.) ii. x. 387 The initial substantive aim of this pilot study was fourfold. 1959Listener 22 Jan. 173/1 We hoped to do a pilot survey on the reactions of individuals to television programmes. 1961Technology Feb. 34/4 The scheme will start in three pilot areas. 1961Harper's Bazaar Feb. 23 The trend-setters.., the ‘pilot’ clothes that look ahead. 1964M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy, 1939– 1945 v. 150 The Chicago pilot-scale graphite pile. 1966T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 ii. 33 They've done the pilot film of a TV series, in fact, based loosely on my career. 1969N. W. Pirie Food Resources 13 With less initial obstruction, and a steady increase in the scale of pilot projects, the ultimate acreage aimed at would probably have been reached earlier. 1971Brit. Med. Bull. XXVII. 6/2 Sensitivity and specificity may be assessed from the results of a pilot trial undertaken on a group of individuals similar to those who are to be screened. 1971Guardian 26 Feb. 13/3 US networks are no longer so keen to buy British programmes without seeing a pilot episode. 1971Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. Apr. 191 On the basis of a pilot study..it was predicted that..total list acquisition would not differ as a function of stimulus clustering. 1974Nature 1 Feb. 248/3 Pilot plants started within the next year or two could be working productively within the next five years. 1975Radio Times 30 Aug. 14/2, I saw a pilot programme for the new series. 1975Daily Tel. 3 Oct. 7/2 A pilot plan to ‘lock’ radioactive wastes inside solid glass is now being commissioned. 1976Leicester Chron. 26 Nov. 2/3 Leslie Crowther presented the pilot show but future commitments prevented him taking it on permanently. 1978Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Dec. 8/2 Examinations in Communication were offered..on a pilot basis.
Hence ˈpilotess, a female pilot.
1834New Monthly Mag. XLII. 108 Our fair pilotess has not suffered shipwreck.
Add:[1.] c. Used in the titles of various books containing navigational information, as the British Admiralty's Mediterranean Pilot, etc.; hence ellipt. (freq. with cap. initial), any such navigational handbook.
1693G. Collins (title) Great Britain's coasting-pilot. 1825S. Cummings (title) The western pilot; containing charts of the Ohio River, and of the Mississippi [etc.]. 1895Funk's Stand. Dict. 1341/1 Pilot,..a book of sailing-directions. 1897M. Kingsley W. Afr. xvii. 406 The northern part of the bay I have had no personal experience in navigating but, according to the ‘Pilot’ it has its drawbacks. 1937H. Belloc in L. C. Wroth Way of Ship ii. 15, I pick up my charts, I read my various ‘Pilots’ (especially my beloved ‘English Channel Pilot I’), and the truth comes out. 1976‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird xiv. 183 The charts for the coast of Yugoslavia were already laid out in the saloon with an open volume of the Med. pilot, and he took me quickly through both. 1984Pract. Boat Owner Feb. 65/1 Every abnormal wave documented in the pilot had occurred between May and October.
g. Motor-cycling. ellipt. for pilot jet, sense 8 a below.
1939‘N. I.’ Bk. New Imperial (ed. 5) 7 It will be necessary to re-check the pilot setting if this has been disturbed. 1987Super Bike June 68/2 All I wanted to do was trickle through the slow corners on the pilot.
[8.] [a.] pilot jet, a small jet with a narrow bore in the carburettor of a motor-cycle engine, designed to deliver petrol at a low rate when the engine is idling.
1929F. J. Camm Bk. New Imperial iii. 41 The *pilot jet. 1960Motor Cycling (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 8/2 There is also a ‘bleed’ from the jet to a point behind the throttle slide through which a small amount of petrol can pass. This is called the pilot jet, and its purpose is to provide for a supply of petrol when the engine is merely idling. 1976New Motorcycle Monthly Oct. 46/1 The pilot jet which is situated just in front of the main jet, should next be removed and checked for blockages.
▪ II. ˈpilot, v.
[f. pilot n., or a. F. pilote-r (1530 in Palsgr.); cf. pilotier ‘to play the Pilot’ (Cotgr.).]
1. a. trans. To conduct as a pilot; to direct the course of (a vessel) through difficult or dangerous waters; to steer, guide.
1693Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 152 One Chetworth..pilotted in the French privateers that burnt the lord Widdringtons house 2 years since. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Pilot, Pilots..having done their parts in piloting the vessel, return to shoar where they reside. 1805Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1846) VI. 471 [He] very cheerfully offered his services to pilot the Fleet. 1879H. George Progr. & Pov. v. ii. 256 He..can pilot himself by the sun or the stars.
b. To act as pilot on (an aeroplane or other aircraft) in the air; to fly (passengers) in an aircraft. Also absol.
1852Illustr. London News 18 Sept. 224/3 The veteran aëronaut who had successfully piloted them and some hundred others through the air. 1911Daily News 20 July 2/4 The Dutch aviator has decided to pilot a..monoplane..instead of a..biplane. 1931F. L. Allen Only Yesterday viii. 222 If you did not know how to pilot a plane you could still be a passenger. 1946Happy Landings (Air Ministry) July 6/3 These considerations led to me to select a Mosquito..and to pilot myself. 1955Times 22 Aug. 5/4 The crowd saw a fly-past of aircraft piloted by men of the R.A.F. 1958‘Castle’ & ‘Hailey’ Flight into Danger viii. 113 The first officer, then the captain were taken sick. Luckily there was a passenger on board who had piloted before and he took over the controls. 1977Daily Tel. 7 Apr. 7/3 An attempt..to become the first woman to pilot a hot air balloon across the English Channel.
2. transf. and fig.
a. To guide or conduct through unknown, intricate, or dangerous paths or places, or through a difficult course of affairs; to conduct as a ‘pilot’ in the hunting-field.
1649J. Eliot in Early Rec. Lancaster, Mass. (1884) 16, I therefore hired a..man of Nashaway..to mark trees so that he may Pilot me thither in the spring. 1761Wesley Jrnl. 18 Apr., He piloted us over the next mountain. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxi, The big footman..piloted them in perfect safety to the street-door. 1877Tennyson Harold i. i. 148 Go—the Saints Pilot and prosper all thy wandering out And homeward. 1881Mrs. Power O'Donoghue Ladies on Horseback iii. vi. 94 Any man who will not take this trouble is unfit to pilot a lady.
b. To secure the passage of (a bill) through a legislative assembly; to carry. orig. U.S.
1929Randolph Enterprise (Elkins, W. Virginia) 21 Mar. 1/4 The bill..piloted..thru the House by Representative Karl Kyle. 1974Lebende Sprachen XIX. 39/2 He piloted through the House the government's elaborate education bill. 1976Leicester Mercury 16 July 4 It now goes to the Lords. It is likely to be piloted there by Liberal Lord Avebury.
c. To use experimentally; to try out, test.
1960Sunday Times 10 Jan. 14/6 Practically all these devices for saving time and labour have been piloted in the fifties. The sixties should see them put into commercial production in sufficient quantity to make them financially feasible. 1965New Society 23 Dec. 15/3 The Rowntree survey (piloted in Harrow, and subsequently carried out in York). 1967G. Wills in Wills & Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 186 Always, but always, pilot a questionnaire before sending it out into the field. Never try and scorn the researcher who asks for time and money to pilot his work. 1977Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXV. 308/2 Not only does he [sc. the skilled question designer] pilot his questionnaire, but periodically he tests his questions to find out how they are actually understood.
3. To act as pilot on (a course or way), in or over (an extent of water, etc.).
1725Pope Odyss. iv. 880 Mentor, Captain of the lordly crew, Safe from the secret rock and adverse storm Pilots the course. 1846Mech. Mag. July 20 [They] piloted the way with the Number 1 engine of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company. 1871Browning Hervé Riel vi, Morn and eve, night and day, Have I piloted your bay.
Hence ˈpiloting vbl. n.
1716B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1865) I. 126 By their Piloting, he soon came..to the top of the great Tree which the Enemy had fallen a-cross the River. 1766J. S. Speer (title) The West India Pilot, containing Piloting Directions for Port Royal Harbour in Jamaica. 1891S. Mostyn Curatica 148 Never mind, I'll do the piloting. 1900Blackw. Mag. May 655/2 Piloting, that is the placing of two engines..at the head of a train, is common upon almost all our lines. 1919W. H. Berry New Traffic (Aircraft) i. 5 Good piloting does not depend on cleverness in tinkering with the engine. 1922Encycl. Brit. XXX. 14/1 Aerial navigation, as distinct from piloting with the ground in view, developed tardily everywhere. 1959Manch. Guardian 6 July 2/4 The hour's piloting round a town that makes up most [driving] lessons. 1977Belfast Tel. 28 Feb. 9/2 (caption) Too old for piloting in 1939 he became an air gunner with 235 Squadron Coastal Command. |