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  • deadhead
    deadhead
    noun
    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.
  • Deadhead
    Deadhead
    noun
    a fan of the music of the Grateful Dead, particularly one who identifies with the surrounding subculture.
Synonyms

deadhead

1 American  
[ded-hed] / ˈdɛdˌhɛd /

noun

  1. 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.

  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. Metallurgy. excess metal in the riser of a mold.

  5. a sunken or partially sunken log.


verb (used with object)

  1. to transport (someone) as a deadhead.

  2. to move (an empty commercial vehicle) along a route.

  3. Horticulture. to remove faded blooms from (ornamental plants), especially in flower gardens, often to help continued blooming.

verb (used without object)

  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.

Deadhead 2 American  
[ded-hed] / ˈdɛdˌhɛd /

noun

Deadheads plural
  1. a fan of the music of the Grateful Dead, particularly one who identifies with the surrounding subculture.


deadhead British  
/ ˈdɛdˌhɛd /

noun

  1. a dull unenterprising person

  2. a person who uses a free ticket, as for a train, the theatre, etc

  3. a train, etc, travelling empty

  4. a totally or partially submerged log floating in a lake, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to cut off withered flowers from (a plant)

  2. (intr) to drive an empty bus, train, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

Etymology

Origin of deadhead

First recorded in 1570–80; dead + head

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Basketball great Bill Walton, who died Monday at age 71, was a noted Deadhead who attended hundreds of Grateful Dead shows and was friends with members of the band.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2024

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

If you’re an old Deadhead, a new Deadhead, or even if you’re just open to the idea of seeing the Dead play, please catch a show during this summer tour.

From Salon • Jun. 21, 2019

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

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