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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. Quota

► A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

► A proportional part or share.

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

► 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.

2. Exult

► To rejoice greatly; be jubilant or triumphant

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

► To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.

► The arrangement of events in time

3. Undulate

► The arrangement of events in time

► Of, relating to, or occurring in the night

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

► Being without or almost without hope

4. Renaissance

► Relating to a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound.

► To stress or emphasize; intensify

► A rebirth or revival.

► Either of two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator.

5. Marsupial

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

► Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

► The branch of biology that deals with animals and animal life, including the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals.

► Self-examination.

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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.