Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PETITIONER

DEFINITION:
A person who pleads with a governmental institution for a legal remedy or a redress of grievances, through the use of a petition.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
While presenting the citizens’ petition for debate at the April 11 Spring Town Meeting, petitioners argued that ICE operations in Plymouth have “created fear” and “disrupted lives” among the immigrant community, leading to what they call a distrust of local police.
►The Boston Herald, 04/20/2026

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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. Accentuate

► A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.

► To stress or emphasize; intensify

► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

► Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

2. Marsupial

► Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

► Any of several rod-shaped bacteria, of the genus Salmonella, that cause food poisoning and other diseases.

► Any of various nonplacental mammals, including kangaroos, opossums, bandicoots, and wombats, found principally in Australia and the Americas.

3. Protagonist

► The main character in a drama or other literary work.

► Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous.

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

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

4. Quota

► Appropriateness of behavior or conduct

► A proportional part or share.

► A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.

► The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.

5. Random

► One that takes in everything available, as with the mind.

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

► Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

► The arrangement of events in time

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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.