Panhandlers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Persons who seek donations or aid in city environments
2. People that request financial support or items in busy areas
3. Individuals who ask strangers for money or food in public places

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "panhandlers" is how little anyone can say for certain about where the name came from. The plausible explanations all centre on the image of a beggar's body and a container. One idea is that panhandling always involves holding something out to receive coins, so the name may refer to a small handled pan, with the pan being the container and the arm or arms holding it serving as the handle. The other idea imagines a seated or squatting beggar with one arm stretched outward, the bend of that arm and the body making a shape that resembles the narrow strip of land called a panhandle. Neither explanation can be confirmed, and dictionaries treat the origin as obscure. What is clear is that the word is "panhandler" with the plural ending "-s", so each of these people is a panhandler who asks strangers for money or food in public places.

Synonyms: beggars, mendicants