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single word requests - Is there a term for a free ride without consent?


I think there should be a specific term for someone getting a free ride without consent, but I keep thinking of the word "hijack" which clearly isn't correct.


Examples include jumping on a train without a ticket, or riding without consent on the back of a truck. Or perhaps I want to sit in on someone else's meeting and just observe.


Am I gatecrashing? Or going along for a free ride?


Equally, if I hop on the roof of a train to get somewhere for free, is there a term for that?



Answer



A stowaway is:



a person who hides aboard a vehicle, ship, or aircraft in order to gain free passage



(Collins Online Dictionary)


From Alexander Rein's The Blue Streak: A Hacker's Guide to Special Relativity:



For example, if a railroad train is passing by a bystander who is very close to the tracks and at the same time a stowaway on top of a railroad car is running in the forward direction, the Velocity of the stowaway relative to the bystander is simply the sum of the two Velocities: the ground velocity of the train and the Velocity of the stowaway relative to the train.



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