Definition of "headsman" in English

noun

1. (obsolete or Scotland) A chief person; a head man

2. An executioner whose method of dispatching the condemned is decapitation.

3. (mining, historical) A labourer in a colliery who transports the coal from the workings to the horseway, and who is oftentimes assisted by a younger worker called a foal.

4. (nautical) One in command of a whaling vessel.