"pilot hole" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pilot holes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pilot hole (plural pilot holes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1908, W. McKay, “The Boultham Well at Lincoln,”, in Transactions of the Manchester Geological and Mining Society, volume 30, page 29",
          "text": "During the sinking of the last 150 feet, a pilot-hole was kept in advance, so as to prevent any unforeseen inrush of water.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "1970, Andy Lang, \"Right Nail Hits the Spot,\" St Petersburg Times, 25 Oct., p. 5-G (retrieved 7 Dec. 2008),\nNothing prevents splitting the wood as much as first driving a pilot hole, especially for hard wood."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A narrow hole drilled or punched into a surface, to facilitate the insertion of a wider screw, nail, drill bit, or other boring tool."
      ],
      "id": "en-pilot_hole-en-noun-D2-v88Lr",
      "links": [
        [
          "drill",
          "drill"
        ],
        [
          "punch",
          "punch"
        ],
        [
          "facilitate",
          "facilitate"
        ],
        [
          "insertion",
          "insertion"
        ],
        [
          "screw",
          "screw"
        ],
        [
          "nail",
          "nail"
        ],
        [
          "drill bit",
          "drill bit"
        ],
        [
          "boring",
          "bore"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "pilot-hole"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "pilot hole"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "pilot hole"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pilot holes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pilot hole (plural pilot holes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1908, W. McKay, “The Boultham Well at Lincoln,”, in Transactions of the Manchester Geological and Mining Society, volume 30, page 29",
          "text": "During the sinking of the last 150 feet, a pilot-hole was kept in advance, so as to prevent any unforeseen inrush of water.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "1970, Andy Lang, \"Right Nail Hits the Spot,\" St Petersburg Times, 25 Oct., p. 5-G (retrieved 7 Dec. 2008),\nNothing prevents splitting the wood as much as first driving a pilot hole, especially for hard wood."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A narrow hole drilled or punched into a surface, to facilitate the insertion of a wider screw, nail, drill bit, or other boring tool."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "drill",
          "drill"
        ],
        [
          "punch",
          "punch"
        ],
        [
          "facilitate",
          "facilitate"
        ],
        [
          "insertion",
          "insertion"
        ],
        [
          "screw",
          "screw"
        ],
        [
          "nail",
          "nail"
        ],
        [
          "drill bit",
          "drill bit"
        ],
        [
          "boring",
          "bore"
        ]
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "pilot hole"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "pilot-hole"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pilot hole"
}