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Pilot vs Pivot - What's the difference?

pilot | pivot |

As nouns the difference between pilot and pivot

is that pilot is a person who steers a ship, a helmsman while pivot is a thing on which something turns; specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, such as the end of an axle or spindle.

As verbs the difference between pilot and pivot

is that pilot is to control (an aircraft or watercraft) while pivot is to turn on an exact spot.

As an adjective pilot

is made or used as a test or demonstration of capability. (pilot run, pilot plant.

pilot

English

(wikipedia pilot)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
  • (Dryden)
  • 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.
  • An instrument for detecting the compass error.
  • (AU, road transport, informal) A pilot vehicle.
  • (AU, road transport) A person authorised to drive such a vehicle during an escort.
  • A guide or escort through an unknown or dangerous area.
  • * 1834 , , A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett , E. L. Cary and A. Hart, page 43:
  • So we mounted our horses, and put out for that town, under the direction of two friendly Creeks we had taken for pilots .
  • Something serving as a test or trial.
  • We would like to run a pilot in your facility before rolling out the program city-wide.
    The pilot plant showed the need for major process changes.
  • A person who is in charge of the controls of an aircraft.
  • A sample episode of a proposed TV series
  • (rail transport) A cowcatcher.
  • A pilot light.
  • One who flies a kite.
  • * 2003 , John P. Glaser, A Father's Collage , page 31:
  • Julia has become quite a good kite pilot . She has learned how to repeatedly buzz her father's head, coming within two feet, and not hitting him.

    Derived terms

    * autopilot * bush pilot * copilot * hangar pilot * Palm Pilot * pilot fish * pilot whale * test pilot

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Made or used as a test or demonstration of capability. (pilot run'', ''pilot plant )
  • Used to control or activate another device. (pilot light)
  • A vehicle to warn other road users of the presence of an oversize vehicle/combination. (pilot vehicle )
  • Used to indicate operation ("pilot lamp")
  • Derived terms

    * pilot experiment * pilot hole * pilot light * pilot version

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To control (an aircraft or watercraft).
  • To guide (a vessel) through coastal waters.
  • To test or have a preliminary trial of (an idea, a new product, etc.)
  • pivot

    English

    (wikipedia pivot)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A thing on which something turns; specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, such as the end of an axle or spindle.
  • Something or someone having a paramount significance in a certain situation.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]”}}
  • Act of turning on one foot.
  • * 2012 , Banking reform: Sticking together , The Economist, 18th August issue
  • Sandy Weill was the man who stitched Citigroup together in the 1990s and in the process helped bury the Glass-Steagall act, a Depression-era law separating retail and investment banking. Last month he performed a perfect pivot : he now wants regulators to undo his previous work.
  • (military) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place while the company or line moves around him in wheeling.
  • (roller derby) A player with responsibility for co-ordinating their team in a particular jam.
  • (computing) An element of a set to be sorted that is chosen as a midpoint, so as to divide the other elements into two groups to be dealt with recursively.
  • Derived terms

    * pivot bridge * pivot gun * pivot tooth

    See also

    * fulcrum * pivotal

    Verb

  • To turn on an exact spot.