: a benefit obtained at another's expense or without the usual cost or effort
… a group of students who have been assigned to do a report where only one student cares, does all the work and the others go along for a free ride … Roger T. Johnson and David W. Johnson
also: soft or easy treatment
Generally speaking, the press has given Jacobson a free ride. Spy
2
: an arrangement (such as a scholarship) providing a student with tuition at no cost
athletes getting a free ride at college
College officials hope that the idea of a free ride to a new engineering school with lofty ambitions will attract a highly accomplished student body … Jeffrey Mervis
free rideintransitive verb
free ridernoun
Example Sentences
The state university offered him a free ride for all four years of college—his football scholarship would cover tuition, room and board, and other expenses. companies getting a free ride at the taxpayer's expense