panhandler

Meaning

Noun

• One who panhandles; an urban beggar who typically stands on a street with an outstretched container in hand, begging for loose change or money.

Origin

• Obscure. Speculative. Panhandling always seems to involve a container for receiving loose change, so perhaps the term refers to a small handled pan, or to the container as the pan and the arm(s) holding it as the handle.
• Alternatively, possibly from the notion that the shape of one's outstretched arm in relation to a seated or squatting beggar brings to mind the image of a panhandle.