Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also main boy, main mellow man) one’s best friend; an intimate.

1895		Coburg Leader (Vic.) 28 Sept. 4/1: Since the Bullocky flat collector got main man with bantam he won’t speak to the push.
a.1953		‘Death Row’ in D. Wepman et al. Life (1976) 118: I heard she was going with my main man Moose.
1965		C. Brown Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 228: Jim was the substitute houseman and [...] the owner was his main man.
1972		Curtis Mayfield ‘Pusherman’ 🎵 You know me, I’m your friend, / Your main boy, thick and thin.
1988		R. Doyle Commitments 156: Jimmy! My main man. How are you, Brother?
1990		P. Hotz Muzukuru 18: We schemed we were now hardcore ouens, real main mannes.
1991		R.G. Barrett Between the Devlin 23: ‘Les. My man,’ he beamed. ‘My main, mother-fucking man’.
1994		N. McCall Makes Me Wanna Holler (1995) 128: I got into a beef with my main man, Bimbo.
2000		E. Quiñones Bodega Dreams 12: [I]t was like we were long-lost brothers [...] I did know that he was still my pana, my main-mellow-man.
2005		G. Pelecanos Drama City 191: Those boys and my main boy went down to the corner.

2. a pimp.

1925		Odum & Johnson Negro and His Songs (1964) 173: If my kind man quit me, my main man throw me down.
1985		J. Wambaugh Secrets of Harry Bright (1986) 63: It never occurred to Wingnut that he could be a hooker’s main man. They were all supposed to be bad-looking spades with silk shirts.

3. (also main) a lover, a sweetheart, a woman’s only boyfriend.

1952		(con. 1948) G. Mandel Flee the Angry Strangers 181: Harry wants to know who the main man is with Louella.
1971		(con. 1930s) D. Wells Night People 66: She came to the door with nothing on but the radio. She must have thunk I was her holy main.
1986		J. Ellroy Silent Terror 106: Jill Eversall and her main man Steve Sifakis were brutally offed at Steve's Richmond District crib.

4. (S.Afr.) a local hero, esp. in a school or college.

1970

Forum 6:2 27: That ou’s just thinking he’s a mynman [DSAE].

5. any important person, e.g. a chief prison warder or a managing director.

1968		‘Hy Lit’ Hy Lit’s Unbelievable Dict. of Hip Words 8: cat bird – The main man, the leader, top guy, the boss.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 20: I always had my own table with my own crew [...] salty motherfuckers all. I was the main man.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 64: The main man is the fat stroppy-looking gadge in the middle.
2002		J. Cameron Hell on Hoe Street 127: How come it ain’t some other geezer making out he’s my main man?
2006		Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg) 25 May 🌐 Beckham is no longer England’s main man, [he] has been eclisped as England’s key player.
2016		Guardian 27 Oct. 🌐 And the producer [...] pointed at your main man and said, ‘You’re an embarrassment to yourself, an embarrassment to the BBC’.

6. a hero.

1977		C. McFadden Serial 62: Cesar’s my main man.
1996		(con. 1964-65) B. Thorpe Sex and Thugs and Rock ’n’ Roll 161: ‘Muddy’s [Waters] ma main man’.
2020		G. Armstrong Young Team 8: Last but no least, here’s yir main man. Alan Williams. Azzy A git called [...] YT legend in the makin.

7. an accomplice, an informer.

1975

J. Wambaugh Choirboys (1976) 200: I’ll be your main man for free. You can leave a little geez for me hidden away sometimes when you rip off a doper’s pad.

8. a leading drug supplier.

1975		Sepe & Telano Cop Team 56: ‘They’re our main men ...’ [...] They surrounded the dealers and flashed their shields.
1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 269: I guess maybe you oughta meet the main man.
1995		(con. 1985–90) P. Bourjois In Search of Respect 20: It was only normal for me to want to bask in my increasingly close [...] relationship with the ‘main man.’.
2002		Observer 10 Mar. 13: The main man who’s bringing in the buckees [guns] is the white man.