【head man】 —

1. a chief or a tribal leader:

• The head men, or chiefs of the whole nation, were convened.

2. head of a department:

• Tomorrow, when she sees the 【head man】 … we’ll try and sort this business out.

3. a person walking ahead of a party of hunters, mountain climbers, etc.:

• Their positions in order of desirability were: sack man, 【head man】 , tail man and middle man.

4. smb. who beheads the condemned person:

• The walls resounded with the dread word of treason and its price—the gallows and the headman’s axe.

Note: The expression does not fully correlate in meaning with the compound headsman—

1. = 【head man】 4:

• As there was no English headsman capable of wielding a sword for such a purpose, one had been brought over from Calais.

2. the man in command of a whaling boat:

• The crew of the boat consists of the headsman, boatsteerer and four hands.

3. (dated) head or leading man, especially of a village community:

• Each town, or township, is divided into wards or barrios, the headsman of which is called cabeza de barangay.

4. (dated) a miner who pushes loaded cars to the place from which they will be hauled to the surface:

• This little boy is called a foal. He sometimes assists the headsman by pushing the tub beside him.

【main man】 —

1. (also: leading man) a person that guides, directs, or leads:

• This year the skateboard club is reformed again with Doug Cameron as the 【main man】 .

2. (also: leading man) an actor who plays the leading male role:

• Affleck is very good as the 【main man】 and he plays his part in a reasonably straight, understated way.

3. (U.S. sl.) a person’s best friend:

• Pierre is my 【main man】 when it comes to all things website related. He’s a genius with this stuff.

4. (U.S. sl.) a woman’s husband or lover:

• He’s been her 【main man】 for two years. Do you think they’ll get married?