free rider

See also: freerider

English

Noun

free rider (plural free riders)

1. One who gets a free ride on a ship, or similar; one who rides on a means of transportation gratis.

   Synonym: stowaway

2. (by extension) Someone who obtains goods or services legally without paying.

   Synonyms: freeloader; see also Thesaurus:scrounger

   The store failed because all of the manager's friends were free riders who drove paying customers away.

3. (economics) One who obtains benefit from a public good without paying for it directly.

   A lighthouse is the classic example of a public good because it is difficult to prevent a ship (a free rider) from using it.

4. (industrial relations) A worker at an open shop who is able to enjoy the benefits negotiated by a union without being a member of the union.

Derived terms

• free-rider problem

Related terms

• free ride

Translations

stowaway — see stowaway

freeloader — see freeloader

(economics) one who obtains benefit from a public good without paying for it directly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 搭便車者／搭便车者 (dā biànchē zhě)

• Finnish: vapaamatkustaja (fi)
• French: passager clandestin (fr) m
• Polish: no equivalent term in Polish, but see pasożyt (pl) m

See also

• let George do it
• public good
• tragedy of the commons

References

• “free rider”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “free rider”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.