/ded"hed'/ , 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. a 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. Metall. excess metal in the riser of a mold.
5. a sunken or partially sunken log.
v.t.
6. to transport (someone) as a deadhead.
7. to move (an empty commercial vehicle) along a route.
8. Hort. to remove faded blooms from (ornamental plants), esp. in flower gardens, often to help continued blooming.
v.i.
9. to act or serve as a deadhead.
10. (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.
[ 1570-80; DEAD + HEAD ]