deadhead

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Act of moving a piece of transportation equipment when it is not carrying a paying load (people or freight). For example, this occurs when a bus is moved to a garage after the route is run for the day. Also, a nonpaid trip or someone who does not pay for a bus ride, movie, or other service.

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Origin: 1841

Long before Jerry Garcia was even born, there were deadheads in America. We read of them as far back as 1841, as reported by Spirit of the Times: A Chronicle of the Turf in New York City: "The house on Tuesday was filled as far as $300 could fill, barring the 'dead heads.'" Two years later, with regard to a less successful performance, the Knickerbocker, also of New York City, noted "tickets numbered as high as twelve hundred, and not fifty persons in the room?--and half of those 'dead heads.'" Who were these dead heads who lived more than a century before the Grateful Dead played their first note? They were free-loaders--whose heads did not count in the receipts.

No one knows who first invented the word. But it met an evident need for an expression that was both descriptive and sarcastic, to be used by proprietors who got no income from deadheads and by paying guests envious of those who got in free. And soon deadheads were spoken of everywhere, not just in the theaters of New York City. In an 1848 glossary of American words, John Russell Bartlett explained: "Persons who drink at a bar, ride in an omnibus or railroad car, travel in steamboats, or visit the theatre, without charge, are called dead heads. These consist of the engineers, conductors, and laborers on railroads; the keepers of hotels; the editors of newspapers, etc."

The meaning of deadhead as "one who gets something for nothing" was extended before long to include "one who is good for nothing, an idler, a shiftless person." Or, to use another American term of the time, a deadbeat (1863). In the later nineteenth century, deadhead took on the technical meaning of "a trip by train, truck, or other vehicle without cargo or passengers."

So in the 1970s, when deadhead with its connotations of freeloading, idling, and taking empty trips met the new sense of head meaning "drug user," as in pot head, it was not so surprising that fans of the Grateful Dead would identify themselves as Dead Heads as they followed the rock band from concert to concert around the country from the early 1970s until Garcia's death in 1995.

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A return flight made by a commercial aircraft without any fare-paying passengers or cargo on board. Also called a deadhead flight.

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For a list of words related to deadhead, see:

• Practice, Tools, and Techniques - deadhead: (vb) pinch off dead flower heads from stems to promote blooming
• Intelligence or Aptitude

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See words rhyming with "deadhead."

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - vissen blomst, gratist, kransekagefigur
v. tr. - skære visne blomster fra
v. intr. - gennemføre rute uden at få passagerer

Français (French)
n. - (Rail) personne possédant un titre de transport gratuit, (Théât) personne possédant un billet de faveur, (US) hippie, (US) camion/train roulant à vide
v. tr. - enlever les fleurs fanées
v. intr. - enlever les fleurs fanées

Deutsch (German)
n. - verblühte Blume, (ugs.) jmnd. auf Freifahrschein, (ugs.) Niete
v. - verblühte Blüten abschneiden, (ugs.) leer fahren

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τσαμπατζής, άχρηστος
v. - (καθομ.) παρακολουθώ δωρεάν θεατρική παράσταση, (ΗΠΑ) κάνω διαδρομή χωρίς επιβάτες

Italiano (Italian)
biglietto gratuito, servirsi di biglietto gratuito

Português (Portuguese)
n. - gratuidade (f)
v. - entrar sem pagar

Русский (Russian)
тот, кто имеет бесплатный билет, придурок, ехать по бесплатному билету

Español (Spanish)
n. - persona que tiene pase (para el cine, etc.), persona poco interesante, exceso de metal en un molde, parte emergente de un tronco sumergido
v. tr. - transportar a alguien gratis, viajar en un vehículo de carga vacío, podar las flores marchitas
v. intr. - transportar un vehículo de carga vacío

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - nolla, dumhuvud
v. - ta bort döda blomblad från planta

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
免费看戏、看表演或乘车的人, 沉闷无趣的人, 空车, 允许...免费看戏、看表演、乘车等, 摘去上的枯花, 使放空车, 免费乘车, 放公车, 使用招待券看表演, 空机返航

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 免費看戲﹑看表演或乘車的人, 沈悶無趣的人, 空車
v. tr. - 允許...免費看戲﹑看表演﹑乘車等, 摘去上的枯花, 使放空車
v. intr. - 免費乘車, 放公車, 使用招待券看表演, 空機返航

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 쓸모없는 사람, 무료 입장객, 시들어진 꽃
v. tr. - 무료 입장시키다, 시든 꽃을 들어내다
v. intr. - 무료 입장하다, 시든 꽃을 들어내다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 無賃乗客, 回送車, 係船柱, ばか, 漂流木材, 枯れた花, 無料券を使う入場者, 押湯
v. - 無賃乗車する, 無料の切符を使う, 空車で走らせる, 枯れた花を除く
adv. - 無賃乗車で

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮בעל כרטיס חופשי, אדם משעמם, אדם יבש, אדם לא מועיל, רכב הנוסע ללא נוסעים, טיפש‬
v. tr. - ‮סילק אנשים לא מועילים מ(מקום-עבודה)‬
v. intr. - ‮סיים את הנסיעה עם רכב ריק (נהג אוטובוס וכו')‬

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