panhandle

[ pan-han-dl ]

/ ˈpænˌhæn dl /

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See synonyms for: panhandle / panhandling / panhandler on Thesaurus.com

noun

the handle of a pan.

(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.

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Origin of panhandle

First recorded in 1855–60; pan¹ + handle

Words nearby panhandle

pangram, pan gravy, Pan Gu, panguingue, Pangwe, panhandle, panhandler, Panhandle State, panhead, Panhellenic, Panhellenism

Other definitions for panhandle (2 of 2)

panhandle²

[ pan-han-dl ]

/ ˈpænˌhæn dl /

Informal.

verb (used without object), pan·han·dled, pan·han·dling.

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.

to accost and beg from.

to obtain by accosting and begging from someone.

Origin of panhandle

An Americanism first recorded in 1885–90; so called from the resemblance of the extended arm to a panhandle¹

OTHER WORDS FROM panhandle

pan·han·dler, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use panhandle in a sentence

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.
How to Find Tomorrow’s Silicon Valleys|Sean Culligan|May 26, 2021|Ozy
One night, while panhandling near the baseball stadium, someone suggested he reach out to Pandemic of Love.
How Trees Mother Their Seedlings and What We Can Learn About Connection From Forests|Susanna Schrobsdorff|May 2, 2021|Time
By the time Jon Greiner took over as police chief in 1995, the main challenges on 25th Street were panhandling and public drunkenness.
Inside the rise of police department real-time crime centers|Rowan Moore Gerety|April 19, 2021|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.
Natural Gas Is Getting Cheaper. Thousands Are Paying More To Heat Their Homes Anyway.|by Lucas Manfield and Ken Ward Jr., Mountain State Spotlight|April 17, 2021|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.
How the Justice Department came to investigate Rep. Matt Gaetz|Matt Zapotosky, Michael Scherer|April 15, 2021|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.
Spaghetti for Breakfast?! Not So Crazy at This Idaho Farm Café|Jane & Michael Stern|August 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One represents an urban district in Chicago, the other the Panhandle of Idaho.
Immigration’s Odd Couple: Two Puerto Rican Congressmen Forge a Deal|Sandra McElwaine|May 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Southern Florida is mostly democrat, the north and panhandle mostly Republican.
North Florida Republicans Stressed Out|Winston Ross|November 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Last year panhandle ranchers Phillip and Doris Smith suffered through the worst one-year drought in Texas history.
The Texas Drought Seen Firsthand from the Eyes of Ranchers|Malcolm Jones|August 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
So we made it the boys from Nebraska and South Dakota, from the Panhandle and Okeehobee.
Denis O’Hare Talks About One-Man Show “An Iliad”|Janice Kaplan|March 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Our talk ranged from the Panhandle to the Canada line, while our horses jogged steadily southward.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
One night, away down in the Panhandle, they fell in with an outfit driving a bunch of steers up the Yellow Grass trail.
The Nerve of Foley|Frank H. Spearman
Alone in his room at the hotel, Bartley wondered what would have happened if Wishful had not rapped Panhandle on the head.
Partners of Chance|Henry Herbert Knibbs
This time Panhandle glanced up and asked Wishful if he didn't want to come into the game.
Partners of Chance|Henry Herbert Knibbs
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.
Partners of Chance|Henry Herbert Knibbs

British Dictionary definitions for panhandle (1 of 2)

panhandle¹

/ (ˈpænˌhændəl) /

noun

(sometimes capital) (in the US) a narrow strip of land that projects from one state into another

(in a South African city) a plot of land without street frontage

British Dictionary definitions for panhandle (2 of 2)

panhandle²

/ (ˈpænˌhændəl) /

verb

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

Derived forms of panhandle

panhandler, noun

Word Origin for panhandle

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

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

panhandle

Origin of panhandle

Words nearby panhandle

Other definitions for panhandle (2 of 2)

Origin of panhandle

OTHER WORDS FROM panhandle

Words related to panhandle

How to use panhandle in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for panhandle (1 of 2)

British Dictionary definitions for panhandle (2 of 2)

Derived forms of panhandle

Word Origin for panhandle