free ride

noun

1. Informal.,  something obtained without effort or cost.

   The fact that you're the general's sondoesn't mean you'll get a free ride in the army.

2. Stud Poker.,  a round of betting in which each player checks and therefore receives another card without having to contribute any chips to the pot.

Word History and Origins

Origin of free ride¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Early on, the kids learned there’s no such thing as a free ride.

From Los Angeles Times

The service, which provides fans a free ride between Union Station and Dodger Stadium, “will be running per usual,” Metro senior director of communications Missy Colman said Thursday.

From Los Angeles Times

"I'm supposed to be on benefits and a 'free ride'," he says, using his hands to make quotation marks.

From BBC

"But the free ride isn't all that. I wish I was an asylum seeker, I'd have free accommodation."

From BBC

American presidents going back to Dwight D. Eisenhower in the late 1950s have complained, with good reason, about Europeans getting a free ride from the US security blanket over Europe.

From BBC