have one's hand out

An allusion to the beseeching manner and typical gesture of a beggar.

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

have one's hand out (third-person singular simple present has one's hand out, present participle having one's hand out, simple past and past participle had one's hand out)

1. (idiomatic) To request benefits, especially monetary ones and especially if not entitled to them.

   Whenever there was an appropriations bill, he always had his hand out for his guys.

   • 1978 March 31, Joseph F. Sullivan, “Witness Says He Heard of Plotting To Tie Senator Musto to Gamblers”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 November 2016:

     Mr. Lombardo told him Union City “was probably the most graft‐ridden community in New Jersey—everybody had their hand out.”

   • 2015 February 14, Selena Maranjian, “Winning Lottery Numbers: What a Curse”, in Seattle Post-Intelligencer, retrieved 27 November 2016:

     "Everybody wanted my money. Everybody had their hand out."

   • 2016 July 29, Larry Neumeister, “Woman in UN bribery scandal gets 20 months in prison”, in Washington Post, retrieved 27 November 2016:

     Chung described Ashe as a predator, seeking money at every turn. “He had his hand out constantly,” she said.

• handout