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⇱ deadhead - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

deadhead

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈdɛdhɛd/US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(ded′hed′)


WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
dead•head  (ded′hed′),USA pronunciation [Informal.]
n. 
  1. a person who attends a performance, sports event, etc., or travels on a train, airplane, etc., without having paid for a ticket, esp. a person using a complimentary ticket or free pass.
  2. Rail Transporta 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. Metallurgyexcess metal in the riser of a mold.
  5. a sunken or partially sunken log.

v.t. 
  1. to transport (someone) as a deadhead.
  2. Rail Transport, Transportto move (an empty commercial vehicle) along a route.
  3. Botany[Hort.]to remove faded blooms from (ornamental plants), esp. in flower gardens, often to help continued blooming.

v.i. 
  1. to act or serve as a deadhead.
  2. Rail Transport, Transport(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.
  • dead + head 1570–80

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
deadhead /ˈdɛdˌhɛd/ n
  1. a dull unenterprising person
  2. a person who uses a free ticket, as for a train, the theatre, etc
  3. US Canadian a train, etc, travelling empty
  4. US Canadian a totally or partially submerged log floating in a lake, etc
 vb
  1. (transitive) to cut off withered flowers from (a plant)
  2. (intransitive) US Canadian to drive an empty bus, train, etc
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