ˈdeadheading, vbl. n.
[f. the vb.]
1. U.S. colloq. = deadheadism; also, the act or practice of being a deadhead.
| 1873 Newton Kansan 27 Feb. 3/4 Railroads occasionally complain of the deadheading, but no institution suffers so much from it as the press. 1903 G. C. Eggleston First of Hoosiers 263 Edward..objected..to all ‘dead-heading’ of the clergy, and to all ‘discounts’ made to preachers on the ground of their calling. |
2. Hort. (See quot. 1954.)
| 1952 C. E. L. Phillips Small Garden vii. 62 The most elementary pruning is the ‘dead-heading’ of border flowers, by which we remove spent blooms in order to induce new ones. 1954 A. G. L. Hellyer Encycl. Garden Work 198/1 Faded flower heads may sometimes be removed... This..is often known as dead-heading. 1970 C. Lloyd Well-Tempered Garden i. 48 The first principle in dead-heading is always to cut back to something definite. |