kibitz, kibitzer, kibbutz, kibbutzim

In informal writing and in speech, kibitz (a word borrowed from Yiddish) means to comment, meddle, speak or act in a light-hearted, joking manner or to offer unwanted advice; a person who kibitzes is a kibitzer.

• As the speakers droned on and on, the folks in the back row kibitzed (joked) more loudly.
• The chess game in the park drew a crowd of kibitzers, each offering unsolicited advice.

A kibbutz is a collective farm in Israel: the plural is kibbutzim.

• John has written several articles in the Vancouver Sun about his adventures working on a kibbutz.
• Israel’s kibbutzim welcome volunteers from around the world.

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