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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. Guerrilla

► To stress or emphasize; intensify

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

► To rejoice greatly; be jubilant or triumphant

► A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy

2. Outrageous

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

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

► The act of resting or the state of being at rest.

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

3. Suffrage

► The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war.

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

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

► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

4. Decorum

► The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

► Appropriateness of behavior or conduct

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

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

5. Delegate

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

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

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

► In a deplorable state of distress or misfortune; miserable.

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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.