head·man

(hĕd′mən, -măn′)

1. The chief man especially of a tribal or traditional village.

2. A headsman.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

headman

(ˈhɛdmən)

n, pl -men

1. (Anthropology & Ethnology) anthropol a chief or leader

2. a foreman or overseer

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

head•man

(ˈhɛdˈmæn, -ˌmæn for 1; -mən for 2 )

n., pl. -men (-mən, -ˌmɛn)

1. a chief or leader.

2. headsman.

[before 1000]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	headman - an executioner who beheads the condemned person headsman executioner, public executioner - an official who inflicts capital punishment in pursuit of a warrant
	2.	headman - the head of a tribe or clan tribal chief, chieftain, chief leader - a person who rules or guides or inspires others Indian chief, Indian chieftain - the leader of a group of Native Americans pendragon - the supreme war chief of the ancient Britons

headman

noun chief, head, leader, lord, master, ruler, chieftain the headman of the village

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

headman

noun

One who is highest in rank or authority:

boss, chief, chieftain, director, head, hierarch, leader, master.

Slang: honcho.

Idiom: cock of the walk.

Translations

Häuptling

capo tribù guida

headman

[ˈhedmæn] N (headmen (pl)) [ˈhedmen] → cacique m (hum) → jefe m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

headman

[ˈhɛdmən] n [tribe] → chef mhead massage n → massage m du crâne

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

headman

[ˈhɛdmən] n (-men (pl)) → capotribù m inv

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Then the headman grew angry and demanded back his gifts; but Noma would not give up that which he once had held, and hot words passed.

"You are nothing but a boy," answered the headman. "Can a boy have wisdom?"

"He shall throw the bones," answered the headman. "If you try to stop him, I will let sunshine through you with my assegai." And he lifted his spear.

The headman sat on the ground before me and answered my questions.

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Evening found them at rest under the village tree of a mud- walled, mud-roofed hamlet, talking to the headman as the cattle came in from the grazing-grounds and the women prepared the day's last meal.

'I cannot fathom it,' said the headman at last to the priest.

Even the priest was impressed, and the headman feared an evil spell: but none could look at the lama's simple, eager face and doubt him long.

'I see - and hear.' The headman rolled his eye where Kim was chatting to a girl in blue as she laid crackling thorns on a fire.

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Judging, however, from what the Waganwazam had learned from those of the Russian's blacks who were not too far gone in terror of the brutal Rokoff to fear even to speak of their plans, it was apparent that he would not travel any great distance before the last of his porters, cooks, tent-boys, gun-bearers, askari, and even his headman, would have turned back into the bush, leaving him to the mercy of the merciless jungle.

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A clapping of hands went up at the acceptance of the present, the assembled headman, heralds, and fly-brushers crying aloud in chorus:

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The tool they selected after a stay of several days in their camp outside the village was a tall, old headman of The Sheik's native contingent.

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Their headman, a young, broad- chested black, severely draped in dark-blue fringed cloths, with fierce nostrils and his hair all done up art- fully in oily ringlets, stood near me.

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