Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

FOOTHOLD

DEFINITION:
A position usable as a base for further advance.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Growing national anxiety over the impact of massive data centers on communities has found a foothold in Greater Boston in the form of Markley’s Lowell location.
The Boston Herald, 08/10/2026

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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. Participle

Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

Sharing the same opinions or views; being in complete harmony or accord.

A form of a verb that in some languages, such as English, can function independently as an adjective.

To condescend to give or grant


2. Tumult

A disorderly commotion or disturbance.

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

To honor the memory of with a ceremony

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


3. Tundra

One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.

A treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of Arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation

The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year.

One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother.


4. Deduction

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

The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

Inspiring awe, admiration, or wonder

The method or result of concealing personnel or equipment from an enemy by making them appear to be part of the natural surroundings


5. Embargo

An embankment built to prevent flooding

To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation

An alteration or change, as in nature, form, or quality.


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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.