Definition of "free ride"

Previously, shoppers were given a free ride on charges until the end of the month. Now interest will start on the day of purchase on accounts with balances.

1980 March 31, “The Shaky House of Cards”, in Time

Financially, the two New York teams have not asked for the sort of free ride at taxpayer expense that has been commonplace elsewhere.

2006 April 9, “A Yankees Station in the Bronx”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 June 2009

Finally, the level of excludahility of a CPR should affect the propensity to free ride.

1999, J. Samuel Barkin, George E. Shambaugh, Anarchy and the Environment

Less than half the participants chose to free ride in each of the first two experiments, but the great majority (77 percent) did in the last.

2000, André Blais, To Vote Or Not to Vote?: The Merits and Limits of Rational Choice Theory, pages 119–120

If an issue involves a purely private good such as a regulatory waiver or a tax loophole that would benefit only a single corporation, there is no opportunity to free ride.

2013, Kenneth Godwin, Scott H. Ainsworth, Erik Godwin, Lobbying and Policymaking