deadhead: Meaning and Definition of

dead•head

Pronunciation: (ded'hed"), [key]
— Informal. Informal.
—n.
  1. a person who attends a performance, sports event, etc., or travels on a train, airplane, etc., without having paid for a ticket, esp. a person using a complimentary ticket or free pass.
  2. a train, railroad car, airplane, truck, or other commercial vehicle while operating empty, as when returning to a terminal.
  3. a stupid or boring person; dullard.
  4. excess metal in the riser of a mold.
  5. a sunken or partially sunken log.
—v.t.
  1. to transport (someone) as a deadhead.
  2. to move (an empty commercial vehicle) along a route.
  3. to remove faded blooms from (ornamental plants), esp. in flower gardens, often to help continued blooming.
—v.i.
  1. to act or serve as a deadhead.
  2. (of a commercial vehicle) to travel without cargo or paying passengers: The train carried coal to Pittsburgh and then deadheaded back to Virginia to pick up another load.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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