panhandle

1
[ pan-han-dl ]
/ ˈpænˌhæn dl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR panhandle 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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"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?
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decorum
the act of or need for making up one's mind.
dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.
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Origin of panhandle

1
First recorded in 1855–60; pan1 + handle

Words nearby panhandle

pangola grass, pangolin, pangram, panguingue, pangwe, panhandle, panhandle state, panhead, panhellenic, panhellenism, panhoss

Definition 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 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

2
1895–1900, Americanism; back formation from panhandler; 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. 2020

Words related to panhandle

scrounge, sponge, freeload, bum, cadge, mooch, hustle

Example sentences from the Web for panhandle

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