panhandle

A long, usually plastic or metal extension on a pan (shallow dish used for cooking over heat, often used for frying) that is used to grasp and lift the pan.

A part of a county, state, or nation that geographically protrudes from the main bulk of said entity, thus resembling the handle of a pan. Alaska, Florida, Texas, Idaho, and Oklahoma are states in the US with panhandles. Mexico and Norway are nations with panhandles (Baja California and Lapland, respectively), while Chile itself, is one big panhandle.

Pan"han`dle (?), n.

The handle of a pan; hence, fig., any arm or projection suggestive of the handle of a pan; as, the panhandle of West Virginia, Texas, or Idaho.

© Webster 1913