panhandler
Asks for change
A panhandler is someone who begs for money in public places, typically on city streets.
The term is American and slightly euphemistic—it sounds more active than "beggar," suggesting someone working a stretch of sidewalk: Panhandlers approached us outside the subway station.
The verb is panhandle: He panhandled for bus fare.
Without a dwelling
- vagrantHomeless itinerant person
- mendicantOne who begs
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- destituteUtterly without means
down-and-out · indigent · hobo · tramp · bum · drifter · cadger · scrounger
Lacking permanent residence
- povertySevere lack of resources
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- desperationUtter loss of hope
- survivalRemaining alive against odds
addiction · mental-illness · unemployment · displacement · eviction · destitution · vulnerability · struggle
Paved pedestrian pathway
- intersectionPoint where paths meet
- cornerMeeting point of edges
- underpassRoad passing below another
- storefrontRetail facade facing street
doorway · traffic-light · median · alleyway · curb · pedestrian · downtown · blanket
Formal request or defense
- entreatyEarnest, urgent request
- appealFormal review request
- beggingEarnest desperate requesting
- askingPosing questions
imploring · beseeching · petitioning · approaching · accosting · canvassing · hustling · pitch
homeless
Without a dwelling
destitute · down-and-out · indigent · hobo · tramp · bum · drifter · cadger · scrounger · sponger
homelessness
Lacking permanent residence
- povertySevere lack of resources
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- desperationUtter loss of hope
survival · addiction · mental-illness · unemployment · displacement · eviction · destitution · vulnerability · struggle · subsistence
sidewalk
Paved pedestrian pathway
- intersectionPoint where paths meet
- cornerMeeting point of edges
- underpassRoad passing below another
storefront · doorway · traffic-light · median · alleyway · curb · pedestrian · downtown · blanket · encampment
plea
Formal request or defense
asking · imploring · beseeching · petitioning · approaching · accosting · canvassing · hustling · pitch · request
- urban neighborhoodneighborhood, block party, corner store, sidewalk, stoop
- criminalsmurderer, thief, burglar, criminal, killer
- Depression EraGreat Depression, Hooverville, breadline, dust storms, soup kitchen
- street peoplestreet vendor, street performer, street musician, busker, street artist
- povertypoverty line, poor, poverty rate, impoverished, generational poverty
- outcastsoutcast, pariah, pariahs, outcasts, outlaws
panhandlerphilanthropist
Donor to charitable causes
donor · benefactor · giver · almsgiver · patron
panhandlerplutocrat
Ruler through wealth
aristocrat · socialite · millionaire · billionaire · tycoon
panhandlerbusker
Public-space entertainer seeking donations
street vendor · wage earner · worker · entrepreneur · merchant
- Florida PanhandleNorthwest coastal strip of state
- Texas PanhandleNorthernmost Texas region
- aggressive panhandlingDemanding money from passersby