Definition of "panhandle" [pan•han•dle]

• To approach strangers and beg for money or food. (verb-intransitive)
• To approach and beg from (a stranger). (verb-transitive)
• To obtain by approaching and begging from a stranger: panhandled money. See Synonyms at cadge. (verb-transitive)
• The handle of a pan. (noun)
• A narrow strip of territory projecting from a larger, broader area, as in Alaska, Idaho, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "If the Florida panhandle is the Redneck Riviera, this is the Redneck Aspen."
• "Even if the premature television calls affected all potential voters equally, the effect was to reduce Republican votes significantly, because the Florida panhandle is a Republican stronghold."
• "Every single election everyone seems to have the epiphany that the panhandle is still voting as they're trotting out the news that the polls are closed. gyges1"