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
“They have a wonderful bloom in June and come back and bloom in July, and then they come back in August. You have to prune and deadhead them, but they’ll come back.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 13, 2018
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
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 cashier seemed excited by my choice, but I had to tell him no, I’m not a Deadhead.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2019
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
The association with the method is unfortunate, because unlike the large psychedelic Deadhead patterns and colors, bandini tie-dyes are delicate and intricate.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
“At one point, I looked back and there was a sea of Deadheads who realized it was Bob Weir,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Deadheads traded amateur recordings of Dead concerts in a practice endorsed by the band.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2024
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
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
Alby walked toward the South Door, located between what he’d called the Deadheads and the Blood House.
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.
