kibitz
/ˈkɪbɪts
/verb [no object] informal, chiefly North American
1Look on and offer unwelcome advice, especially at a card game: Brigham stood behind them, kibitzing...
- Gruff, inhospitable, and monolingual, the Russians sprawl in folding chairs, kibitz around card tables, smoke in defiance of ‘no smoking ‘signs, and studiously ignore customers who stray past their booths.
- In addition to the formal legal process, a number of academics, lobbyists, journalists, and commentators have been kibitzing and barracking from the sidelines.
- You take pictures from beginning to end - lots of them inside and outside of the plane - and even if you're a pilot, stay out of the way and don't kibitz.
2Speak informally; chat: she kibitzed with friends...
- I basically advised them on the accuracy of the film and verisimilitude issues, kibitzed with them.
- They visit, gossip, spy and tease; and while they are so engaged, the main character snoops and kibitzes with us.
- A building can be organized to maximize interaction, so that people bump into each other and talk, drink, flirt, eat, complain, kibitz.
Derivatives
kibitzer
/ noun ...- I hope what you are dreaming of is making the world a better place, and unlike all these other kibitzers, I can tell you exactly how to do so.
- The onlookers were amazed, and kibitzers began to gather.
- A motley crew of kibitzers, many of whom don't drive, hang out on Brochu's premises, reading tabloids, exchanging wisecracks and arguing their theories.
Origin
1920s: Yiddish, from colloquial German, from German Kiebitz 'interfering onlooker' (literally 'lapwing').