panhandling
Asking strangers money
Panhandling is begging for money in public places, typically on streets or sidewalks.
The term is American and slightly euphemistic—it sounds more official than "begging," which is why it appears in municipal codes and news reports: The city passed an ordinance against aggressive panhandling.
A panhandler asks strangers for spare change, often with a sign or cup.
Actively seeking responses
- spare changeExtra coins on hand
- handoutFree distribution to recipients
- almsGifts to the destitute
- cadgingObtaining through begging
scrounging · mooching · bumming · busking · cup · sign · cardboard · plea
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- needinessExcessive emotional reliance
- wantTo desire something
penury · privation · deprivation · struggle · survival · subsistence · underprivileged · disadvantaged
Without a dwelling
- unhousedLacking stable housing
- vagrantHomeless itinerant person
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- drifterAimless, rootless traveler
hobo · rough sleeping · shelter · encampment · squatting · streets · doorway · underpass
Paved pedestrian pathway
- street cornerWhere two roads intersect
- intersectionPoint where paths meet
- downtownCentral business district
- subwayUnderground transit passage
metro · traffic light · median · storefront · pedestrian · city · crosswalk · curb
Official government regulation
- loiteringPurposeless public lingering
- trespassUnauthorized entry onto property
- citationMention of a source
- banOfficial restriction on something
criminalization · harassment · police · enforcement · rights · free speech · arrest · fine
soliciting
Actively seeking responses
- spare changeExtra coins on hand
- handoutFree distribution to recipients
- almsGifts to the destitute
cadging · scrounging · mooching · bumming · busking · cup · sign · cardboard · plea · entreaty
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- needinessExcessive emotional reliance
want · penury · privation · deprivation · struggle · survival · subsistence · underprivileged · disadvantaged · inequality
homeless
Without a dwelling
drifter · hobo · rough sleeping · shelter · encampment · squatting · streets · doorway · underpass · displacement
sidewalk
Paved pedestrian pathway
- street cornerWhere two roads intersect
- intersectionPoint where paths meet
- downtownCentral business district
subway · metro · traffic light · median · storefront · pedestrian · city · crosswalk · curb · alleyway
ordinance
Official government regulation
- loiteringPurposeless public lingering
- trespassUnauthorized entry onto property
- citationMention of a source
ban · criminalization · harassment · police · enforcement · rights · free speech · arrest · fine · displacement
- city lifecity, urban life, traffic noise, downtown, metropolis
- street lifestreet food, street fair, street fairs, street music, street vendor
- Depression EraGreat Depression, Hooverville, breadline, dust storms, soup kitchen
- misdemeanorsmisdemeanor, petty theft, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, petty larceny
- public disturbancesriot, disorderly conduct, brawl, disturbing the peace, breach of peace
- solicitationsrequest, plea, entreaty, appeal, solicitations
panhandlingworking
In active function
earning · employment · wage labor · earning a living · busking
panhandlingdonating
Giving freely, expecting nothing
giving · charitable giving · almsgiving · philanthropy · tipping
panhandlingself-sufficiency
Independence from outside aid
financial independence · prosperity · affluence · wealth · solvency
- aggressive panhandlingDemanding money from passersby
handle, handled, handling, handles, handlers, panhandler, panhandle, panhandles, panhandlers