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

Their bond goes deeper: Gaetz, who represents the Florida panhandle, won his first race for the House in 2016 as a Trump-style firebrand who loathed the establishment.

From Slate

Allegations of misconduct have hung over the legislator from the Florida Panhandle for years, thanks in part to his association with convicted sex trafficker Joel Greenberg.

From Salon

For example, Steinbeck placed his main characters, the Joads, who’d been “tractored out” by their corporate landlords, first in Shawnee County and then in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, both of which are far from the panhandle and outside of the areas deeply affected by the Dust Bowl.

From Salon

“Think we were due,” Lynn said, noting they had never filed an insurance claim in 25 years living in hurricane-prone South Carolina, the Panhandle and now south Florida.

From Los Angeles Times

Milton is the third hurricane to make landfall in Florida this year; it comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene barrelled into the rural Big Bend region of the state’s panhandle, then moved on to Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, killing more than 230 people across multiple states.

From Los Angeles Times