communism

KOM-yuh-niz-um

meaning in plain English

A way of running a country where the things everyone needs, like food and factories, are owned and shared by everyone together instead of by a few rich people.

Think of everyone sharing a giant pizza—no one owns a slice alone; that's communism, all the toppings belong to the whole table.

for example

After the revolution, the village tried to live by communism, so no one owned the land alone and everyone worked together.

Imagine if your neighborhood decided to pool everyone’s lawnmowers so no one had to buy their own—you’d just take one when you needed it, and if it broke, the group would fix or replace it. That’s communism in action: sharing the tools we all rely on instead of letting a few people hoard them while others struggle.