Man with staff blowing top (4)
I believe the answer is:
rook
'man' is the definition.
(rook is a kind of man)
'staff blowing top' is the wordplay.
'staff' becomes 'crook' (crook is a kind of staff).
'blowing top' means to remove the first letter.
'crook' with its first letter taken away is 'ROOK'.
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for rook that I've seen before include "Crow-like bird" , "Another name for castle in chess" , "man for moving" , "man on board" , "Steal - castle" .)