headsman

noun4

1. •
   An executioner whose method of dispatching the condemned is decapitation.

   • And made him Headsman, for we said, / "Who's next to be decapited / Cannot cut off another's head / Until he's cut his own off[…]" — 1885
2. •
   One in command of a whaling vessel.
3. •
   (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. •
   (Scotland, no longer used) A chief person; a head man