panhandle

¹

[ pan-han-dl ]

noun

1. the handle of a pan.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter) a long, narrow, projecting strip of territory that is not a peninsula, especially such a part of a specified state:

   the panhandle of Alaska; the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.

panhandle

²

[ pan-han-dl ]

verb (used without object)

, pan·han·dled, pan·han·dling.

1. to accost passers-by on the street, riders on the subway, motorists stopped at red lights, etc., and beg from them.

verb (used with object)

, pan·han·dled, pan·han·dling.

1. to accost and beg from.
2. to obtain by accosting and begging from someone.

panhandle

¹

/ ˈpænˌhændəl /

verb

1. informal.
   to accost and beg from (passers-by), esp on the street

panhandle

²

/ ˈpænˌhændəl /

noun

1. sometimes capital (in the US) a narrow strip of land that projects from one state into another
2. (in a South African city) a plot of land without street frontage

Derived Forms

• ˈpanˌhandler, noun

Other Words From

• pan·han·dler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of panhandle¹

First recorded in 1855–60; pan ¹ + handle

Origin of panhandle²

An Americanism first recorded in 1885–90; so called from the resemblance of the extended arm to a panhandle ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of panhandle¹

C19: probably a back formation from panhandler a person who begs with a pan

Example Sentences

In Austin, Mayor Steve Adler had advocated a more humane approach of not disturbing homeless camps … but residents voted in May to reinstate a ban on the encampments and criminalize panhandling.

From Ozy

One night, while panhandling near the baseball stadium, someone suggested he reach out to Pandemic of Love.

From Time

By the time Jon Greiner took over as police chief in 1995, the main challenges on 25th Street were panhandling and public drunkenness.

From MIT Technology Review

In one case, the Public Service Commission greenlighted a surcharge for a new pipeline to provide gas to an insulation plant in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle — something the private company would typically pay for.

From ProPublica

Greenberg also became close with Gaetz, now 38, who hailed from a panhandle district hundreds of miles away, and a group of other Republican men in the Orlando area.

From Washington Post

When it's cold outside, as it is for much of the year in the Idaho panhandle, inside accommodations are warm and cozy.

From The Daily Beast

One represents an urban district in Chicago, the other the Panhandle of Idaho.

From The Daily Beast

Southern Florida is mostly democrat, the north and panhandle mostly Republican.

From The Daily Beast

Last year panhandle ranchers Phillip and Doris Smith suffered through the worst one-year drought in Texas history.

From The Daily Beast

So we made it the boys from Nebraska and South Dakota, from the Panhandle and Okeehobee.

From The Daily Beast

Our talk ranged from the Panhandle to the Canada line, while our horses jogged steadily southward.

From Project Gutenberg

One night, away down in the Panhandle, they fell in with an outfit driving a bunch of steers up the Yellow Grass trail.

From Project Gutenberg

Alone in his room at the hotel, Bartley wondered what would have happened if Wishful had not rapped Panhandle on the head.

From Project Gutenberg

This time Panhandle glanced up and asked Wishful if he didn't want to come into the game.

From Project Gutenberg

Bartley recalled the fact that he had drawn back his arm, intending to take one good punch at Panhandle, even if it were his last.

From Project Gutenberg