How to Use pilot in a Sentence

pilot

1 of 3 noun
  • The pilot was known to be among the dead.
    — Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 15 June 2026
  • That’s where the pilots come in.
    — Billy Perrigo, Time, 9 Oct. 2025
  • The plane's two pilots were killed in the crash.
    — CBS News, 30 Mar. 2026
  • This time, though, there is a pilot present.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
  • John was in the first row, in the pilot’s seat.
    — Jeff Wise, Vulture, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Drill small pilot holes a half inch from the sides of the board.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 25 Sep. 2025
  • This is not a pilot or a proof of concept.
    — Sandy Carter, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
  • The pace is real and well past the pilot stage.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 2 May 2026
  • Changing the minds of pilots might not be easy.
    — Pete Muntean, CNN Money, 24 May 2026
  • Or that her mom would be her co-pilot in that venture.
    — Hannah Agran, Midwest Living, 13 June 2026
  • The pilot and co-pilot were killed in the plane crash.
    — Alexa Herrera, CBS News, 23 Mar. 2026
  • This was the pilot of the season.
    — Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026
  • The pilot also died in the crash.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 28 June 2026
  • Both pilots were killed and dozens were injured in that crash.
    — ABC News, 17 Apr. 2026
  • Resale is still at the pilot stage.
    — Chizuru Muko, Footwear News, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Like many pilot programs, there are trade-offs.
    — Jackie Fortiér, Miami Herald, 8 May 2026
  • The lead pilot's wings clipped the wingman's tail.
    — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Small pilots emerge, led by early adopters.
    — Anand Subbaraj, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The post didn’t say how many pilots were cited or how many drones were seized.
    — Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2026
  • How does the pilot program work?
    — Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 5 June 2026
  • How does the pilot program work?
    — Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 20 May 2026
  • There’ll be a black female pilot.
    — Peter Slevin, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
  • At the end of the pilot, Cate nearly dies.
    — Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Same age that Dawson was in the pilot.
    — Madison E. Goldberg, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Just like not everyone is meant to be a pilot or a barista.
    — Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025
  • The Navy jet pilot gave a little.
    — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 12 Apr. 2026
  • That allows a pilot to fly the drones beyond their line of sight.
    — Dillon Thomas, CBS News, 31 Mar. 2026
  • The crew on the boat worked quickly to rescue the pilot.
    — Jessica Mekles, FOXNews.com, 14 Feb. 2026
  • The air has been pressurized so that pilots can fly up to smoother skies.
    — Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2026
  • The drones can also be controlled by a pilot.
    — Christa Swanson, CBS News, 16 Feb. 2026

pilot

2 of 3 verb
  • He is learning how to pilot a helicopter.
  • He skillfully piloted the ship into port during the storm.
  • The former leads to pilot projects that don't scale.
    — Solange Charas, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
  • The court is among the first in the nation to pilot the gadget.
    — The Enquirer, 22 Aug. 2023
  • But they aren’t being piloted from the ground — or by a person at all.
    — Karoline Leonard, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
  • In each of those first seasons, Freeze piloted his team to a bowl game.
    — Ainslie Lee | [email protected], al, 26 Aug. 2023
  • Mickey piloted the boat to the cliffs, dropped anchor, and the four of them swam to shore.
    — David Wright Faladé, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Thomas, who was a licensed pilot, was piloting the plane.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Charlie Sheen once piloted a jet drunk.
    — Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025
  • In other states, schools opt in to pilot tests that are funded by nonprofits.
    — Janice Mak, The Conversation, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Who piloted the plane that crashed with Greg Biffle on it?
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 19 Dec. 2025
  • The aircraft was a small, one-engine plane owned and piloted by Sachs.
    — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 5 Jan. 2024
  • The store was piloted in 35 shops with plans to expand it in the future.
    — Michael Nied, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2025
  • To pilot these new tools, Nalaquq is training locals, most of them young people.
    — Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Sep. 2023
  • The companies that will define the next decade are not piloting.
    — MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
  • At the time, RJ Decker had just been ordered to pilot.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Often, this kind of change takes piloting, testing and learning.
    — Laura Thompson, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2023
  • Microsoft piloted its own version and last week rolled it out more widely.
    — Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Post impact, Pagani piloted the craft back to the boat with trembling hands.
    — Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023
  • The biochar machine was one of three solutions the county is piloting.
    — Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 7 Feb. 2026
  • The chain is piloting the program in Columbus, Ohio this month.
    — Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN, 17 June 2023
  • The union attributes the napping to pilot fatigue from tight schedules and staff shortages.
    — Zach Wichter, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025
  • It is piloted by a single human who must wear a full pressure suit, like an astronaut.
    — Douglas Fox, Scientific American, 19 Sep. 2023
  • The two drivers who will pilot the cars are reportedly on the cusp of being announced.
    — Maury Brown, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025
  • Clutch action is light too, so this is a pleasantly involving car to pilot, even at lower speeds.
    — Rich Ceppos, Car and Driver, 15 Mar. 2023
  • Twelve Hotdoggers will be picked to pilot the 27-foot dog on wheels cross-country for a year.
    — Robert Abitbol, USA Today, 13 Dec. 2025
  • Novice, expert, or pro, the MasterCraft is easy to pilot.
    — New Atlas, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The project was picked up to pilot at NBC in January.
    — Joe Otterson, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
  • The leaders aren’t just piloting models.
    — Shuchi Agrawal, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
  • But that means going well beyond simply making an uncrewed boat that can pilot itself.
    — David Szondy february 09, New Atlas, 9 Feb. 2026

pilot

3 of 3 adjective
  • The group conducted a pilot program.
  • Use it as a co-pilot, not the captain.
    — Bernardo Martinez, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Working our way out of the pilot shortage will not be as easy.
    — Geoff Murray, CNN, 19 July 2022
  • And above all, treat it as a co-pilot, not an autopilot.
    — Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • One is a pilot program to offer a low-water grass seed at cost.
    — Matt Canham, The Salt Lake Tribune, 28 Dec. 2021
  • The body is hinged at the front to allow the pilot access to the cockpit.
    — Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 29 Nov. 2021
  • Consider starting with a pilot plot to gauge how your choice pans out.
    — Kathryn O’Shea-Evans, WSJ, 27 Aug. 2021
  • Bibb rolled out a pilot version of the online tracker last week.
    — Courtney Astolfi, cleveland, 3 Feb. 2022
  • The plane’s nose was sheared off from the impact, leaving the pilot and co-pilot dead.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 23 Mar. 2026
  • But one of the bills was watered down, replacing a pilot program with a study that could take three years.
    — Sammy Rothstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2022
  • But this was more than simply the pilot episode of the January 6 show.
    — Grace Segers, The New Republic, 9 June 2022
  • Some onboard amenities were gimmicky but cute, such as outfit changes into spa robes or co-pilot outfits.
    — Nina Ruggiero, Travel + Leisure, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Speed cushions were installed as part of a pilot program on Winneste Avenue.
    — Cameron Knight, The Enquirer, 24 Mar. 2022
  • Lewis said the tribe would also initiate a pilot program to cover some of its canals with solar panels.
    — Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic, 13 Dec. 2021
  • The plan was to start with a pilot program of sorts in Phuket this summer, and then five other provinces to follow in the fall.
    — Will McGough, Forbes, 27 Apr. 2021
  • The plan also calls for a pilot program of adaptive bikes for people with disabilities.
    — Washington Post, 24 June 2021
  • The department began to roll out a pilot video call system in October.
    — Angie Jackson, Detroit Free Press, 12 Mar. 2021
  • Visa said the move is part of a pilot program to make life easier for cryptocurrency businesses.
    — Robert Hackett, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2021
  • American has parked about 100 regional jets due to the pilot shortage.
    — Dallas News, 18 Aug. 2022
  • The show recently received a pilot greenlight at Hulu.
    — Justin Kroll, Deadline, 26 Mar. 2026
  • In the meantime, Twitter is running a pilot program with a select group of businesses.
    — Jacob Siegal, BGR, 20 Dec. 2022
  • The campus tried to roll out a pilot program to provide free menstrual products, but the products ran out within a couple of weeks.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 May 2022
  • Alaska is training more pilot trainers for the new-hire classes and more check pilots for the operational training.
    — Dominic Gates, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Apr. 2022
  • That rule is largely going to be broken here with what can be considered a pilot episode of Car and Passenger.
    — Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 27 Sep. 2022
  • The team decided to develop a pilot program to test the proposition that yes, VR can help.
    — Colleen Reilly, Forbes, 13 Apr. 2022
  • Airlines have put part of the blame for the delays and cancellations on a pilot shortage, air traffic control problems and bad weather.
    — Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2022
  • The impact severed the cockpit, killing the pilot and co-pilot, both based in Canada, and injuring dozens of others.
    — Bradford Betz, FOXNews.com, 24 Mar. 2026
  • The Michigan State Police had a pilot program to test oral swabs as of 2019.
    — Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, 28 Apr. 2021
  • Before there was a script or a treatment for the pilot episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, there was the idea for the theme song.
    — Ew Staff, EW.com, 24 Jan. 2022
  • Fly & Dry was a pilot program for a year, reaching 50 seniors a month through a partnership with Meals on Wheels.
    — Sarah Brookbank, The Enquirer, 20 Aug. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pilot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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