begging bowl

British

noun

a bowl carried by a beggar, esp a Franciscan or other friar or a Buddhist monk, to receive food or alms

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mr Magwenya also made the point that South Africa would not be heading into Wednesday's meeting "with a begging bowl".

From BBC

The deputy first minister also insisted that the delegation was "not going to the government with a begging bowl".

From BBC

He urged ministers to start allocating money based on need rather than the "begging bowl culture of competitive bidding".

From BBC

He said London placed 49 bids, costing an estimated £2.2m, "for the privilege of having a begging bowl".

From BBC

Last week, the West Midlands' mayor Andy Street began setting out the message by calling for an end to Whitehall's "broken begging bowl culture".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023