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.

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), esp. 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.