Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PARLIAMENTARIAN

DEFINITION:
A consultant who advises the presiding officer and other officers, committees, and members on matters of parliamentary procedure.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Mia Cooper, a parliamentarian for the district, brought her daughter to district meetings and state-level education forums as the girl grew up.
►The Los Angeles Times, 03/09/2026

Generate your own quiz
Select a grade level
 Elementary
 Middle School
 High School
Select a quiz type
 By words
 By Definitions
Select how many questions
5   10   15   20  

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. Cower

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

► To cringe in fear

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

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

2. Random

► Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

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

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

► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

3. Solstice

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

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

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

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

4. Repose

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

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

► A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.

► The locus of points for which the sum of the distances from each point to two fixed points is equal

5. Metaphor

► A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.

► The locus of points for which the sum of the distances from each point to two fixed points is equal

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

► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

Get more Quizzes 

 Elementary School    Middle School   High School  

 By Word     By Definition    5  10  15  20 Questions

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.