panhandle 1
/pan"han'dl/ , n.
1. the handle of a pan.
2. ( sometimes cap. ) a long, narrow, projecting strip of territory that is not a peninsula, esp. such a part of a specified state: the panhandle of Alaska; the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.
[ 1855-60; PAN 1 + HANDLE ]
panhandle 2
— panhandler , n.
/pan"han'dl/ , v. , panhandled, panhandling . Informal.
v.i.
1. to accost passers-by on the street and beg from them.
v.t.
2. to accost and beg from.
3. to obtain by accosting and begging from someone.
[ 1895-1900, Amer.; back formation from panhandler; so called from the resemblance of the extended arm to a PANHANDLE 1 ]