panhandler

American  

[pan-hand-ler] / ˈpænˌhænd lər /

noun

1. a person who accosts passers-by on the street, riders on the subway, motorists stopped at red lights, etc., and begs from them.

   A panhandler used to stop me every morning outside this coffee shop, asking me for spare change.

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Etymology

Origin of panhandler

First recorded in 1890–95; panhandle ² + -er ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Yet, during my visit, I was also hit up by a panhandler as if to perfectly underscore that there are two Americas showing up at the most American of American restaurants.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Shortly after moving here, I was approached by a panhandler in the parking garage of the Beverly Center.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2024

“If I wasn’t where I was, you couldn’t be where you was,” the panhandler says.

From New York Times • Mar. 20, 2023

I was approached by a panhandler while I waited for my traveling companion at a concession stand.

From Washington Post • Jan. 14, 2023

I might a-knowed you was some new kind of a panhandler when you come a-snortin' in my ear that-a-way.

From The Life of the Party by Preston, James M.

Related Words

• beggar
• mendicant