deadheader

noun5

1. •
   One who removes the dead remains of blossoms from plants.

   • Instead, she is a weeder, actually for enjoyment ("That's when I get some of my best thinking done"), a keen harvester of flowers for the house, and a merciless deadheader of perennials in the autumn. — 1992
2. •
   A non-paying passenger.

   • There's company rules against riders. I told him tonight he's gonna have a deadheader; all he wanted to know was you gonna have coffee money. — 1947
3. •
   One who does not work very hard at their job.

   • ...were always the "infamous machine" or the "bosses' candidate" or the "payroll deadheaders and racketeers." — 1959
4. •
   A scheduled trip to move a vehicle that has no cargo and no passengers.

   • From Granite City, I think it was, we rode a deadheader to Minneapolis. — 1995
5. •
   A racing pigeon that will not leave when released.

   • Don does this to catch "Deadheaders" - birds which circle the wrong way and won't leave the release site. By his precise records, Don can remove deadheaders by a process of elimination. — 1989