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
Olga showed the girls how to deadhead roses and immediately delved into their lives.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2022
A few times, I donned gardening gloves and carried pruning shears outside to deadhead stems and prove to the neighbors that I was a real gardener, but the bees wouldn’t stand for it.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2022
Support taller plants with stakes and deadhead frequently to promote new flowering.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 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
The owner of the Iliad Bookshop showed up for work as usual in a ’60s-throwback tie-dye shirt that left no doubt of his status as a Deadhead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2022
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
The things I feared were frivolous during my young Deadhead days, I began to understand in an entirely different way.
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
But the band ended up generating tremendous interest from new audiences, too, becoming a bridge between Deadheads then and now.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 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
This official-as-it-gets Grateful Dead offshoot — featuring heyday members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann with a surprisingly well-received John Mayer — is calling it quits after satisfying grateful Deadheads for seven years.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 28, 2022
Additionally, all Deadheads wanting to flop around in the pit near the stage must be fully vaccinated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2021
As they kept walking, he focused his attention on the other side of the Glade, the section Alby had called the Deadheads.
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.
