Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

BACKLOT

DEFINITION:
An area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who serves the 4th District, makes her way across an empty, unnamed backlot, presenting her case to be the city’s next mayor.
The Los Angeles Times, 05/18/2026

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Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words

Click on the correct answer in the quiz below.
Then see if you can find the word in your newspaper -- the print edition, the website or the digital edition and copy the sentence for context. NOTE: High School words are much harder to find!


1. Cower

One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.

The arrangement of events in time

To cringe in fear


2. Undulate

Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.

To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.


3. Bandolier

The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

An ammunition belt, worn over the shoulder, having loops or pockets for cartridges.

To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark


4. Kilometer

Of or relating to the range of invisible radiation wavelengths from about 4 nanometers, on the border of the x-ray region, to about 380 nanometers, just beyond the violet in the visible spectrum.

To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters (0.62 mile).

A Y-shaped protein on the surface of B cells that is secreted into the blood or lymph in response to an antigenic stimulus


5. Divulge

An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.

To pound, crush, or grind to a powder or dust.

A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms.

To proclaim publicly


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Common Core State Standard
LS.CCS.4/5/6 Grades 3-12: Students are asked to determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words through multiple choice vocabulary quizzes. Quizzes are designed to help students demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in words, acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words, and gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. Students are then asked to find the words within the newspaper and copy the sentence for context to its overall meaning or function in a sentence.