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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

ACQUAINTANCE

DEFINITION:
A person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
When photographer Peter Turnley was just 20 years old, an acquaintance from the California Office of Economic Opportunity reached out to him with a question.
►The Los Angeles Times, 12/01/2025

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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. Pulverize

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

► To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

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

► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

2. Hologram

► The pattern produced on a photosensitive medium that has been exposed by holography and then photographically developed.

► An elevated, comparatively level expanse of land; a tableland.

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

► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

3. Recede

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

► The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables

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

► A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.

4. Tariff

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

► A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.

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

► A schedule of prices or fees.

5. Silhouette

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

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

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

► Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

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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.