panhandle

/ˈpænhændəl/

/ˈpænhændəl/

Other forms: panhandling; panhandles; panhandled

To panhandle is to beg for money outside, on a public street. Someone who needs money to buy a bus ticket home might panhandle.

When people panhandle, they ask passers-by for cash. A man who's lost his job might panhandle so he can get something to eat. and a college student might panhandle on a busy street for money to buy a ticket to a concert. Panhandle is also a noun meaning a long, thin geographical area that's shaped like the handle of a frying pan. Both meanings date from the mid-19th century.

Definitions of panhandle

1. verb

   beg by accosting people in the street and asking for money
   type of:

   beg

   ask to obtain free
2. noun

   the handle of a pan
   type of:

   grip, handgrip, handle, hold

   the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it
3. noun

   a relatively narrow strip of land projecting from some larger area
   “Wheeling is located in the northern panhandle of West Virginia”

   type of:

   geographic area, geographic region, geographical area, geographical region

   a demarcated area of the Earth