a person who attends a performance, sports event, etc., or travels on a train, airplane, etc., without having paid for a ticket, especially a person using a complimentary ticket or free pass.
a train, railroad car, airplane, truck, or other commercial vehicle while operating empty, as when returning to a terminal.
a stupid or boring person; dullard.
Metallurgy. excess metal in the riser of a mold.
a sunken or partially sunken log.
to transport (someone) as a deadhead.
to move (an empty commercial vehicle) along a route.
Horticulture. to remove faded blooms from (ornamental plants), especially in flower gardens, often to help continued blooming.
to act or serve as a deadhead.
(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.
a dull unenterprising person
a person who uses a free ticket, as for a train, the theatre, etc
a train, etc, travelling empty
a totally or partially submerged log floating in a lake, etc
(tr) to cut off withered flowers from (a plant)
(intr) to drive an empty bus, train, etc
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
SemiCab says its technology reduced so-called deadhead miles by 70%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
“The reality is so many pilots deadhead on flights,” Nance said.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2023
Olga showed the girls how to deadhead roses and immediately delved into their lives.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2022
The main flower bed is positioned near the house to allow her to water plants and deadhead roses with ease.
From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2021
For the same deadhead reason people climb mountains—it was there and I wanted to try it.
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
But Pelosi, who grew up listening to opera waft through the streets of Baltimore’s Little Italy, is a genuine tie-dyed in the wool Deadhead, as cultists and aficionados of the group are known.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2023
In a recent interview, King recalled being made fun of by “teachers and students alike” for showing up to class dressed like a Deadhead.
From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2022
Don’t tell my Deadhead friends, but I favor that rule and the whole off-gridness of this trip.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 19, 2020
Ullman certainly classifies as a Deadhead — he saw the band with Jerry Garcia 115 times before Garcia’s death in 1995.
From Fox News ● Mar. 31, 2020
He skirted the edge of the Glade, then, breaking into a run, he headed for his place of seclusion behind the Deadhead forest.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
These live recordings had an appeal beyond Deadheads: The group’s May 8, 1977, concert at Cornell University was placed into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2011.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2024
Deadheads, ballerinas and Mick Jagger: As 2023 winds down, revisit a memorable handful of the thousands of images commissioned by our photo editors that capture the year in culture.
From New York Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
He says about those fans who’ve gotten older: “They are like Deadheads with money, wanting authenticity, and they also like the idea of exclusivity.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
By the time you went to your third concert -- typical among Deadheads -- you would start recognizing and interacting with this same collection of familiar strangers and this could facilitate positive interactions.
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2023
He’d hurt too much to do anything after that, and had spent most of the day on a bench on the outskirts of the Deadheads, wallowing in despair.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
