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.
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
verb
- US and Canadian informal to accost and beg from (passers-by), esp on the street
n.“one who begs,” 1893, from panhandle (n.) in begging sense. Related: Panhandled; panhandler; panhandling. n.“something resembling the handle of a pan,” 1851, from pan (n.) + handle (n.). Especially in reference to geography, originally American English, from 1856, in reference to Virginia (now West Virginia; Florida, Texas, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Alaska also have them). Meaning “an act of begging” is attested from 1849, perhaps from notion of arm stuck out like a panhandle, or of one who handles a (beggar’s) pan. v.“to beg,” 1888, from panhandle (n.) in the begging sense. Related: Panhandled; panhandling.