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. Technique

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

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

► The arrangement of events in time

► The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.

2. Pulverize

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

► To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

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

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

3. Marsupial

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

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

► The supporting and water-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting primarily of tracheids and vessels; woody tissue.

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

4. Typhoon

► The supporting and water-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting primarily of tracheids and vessels; woody tissue.

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

► Any of various relatively small sailing or motor-driven vessels used for pleasure cruises or racing.

► A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane.

5. Renaissance

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

► A rebirth or revival.

► A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.

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

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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.