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. Ellipse

► A poisonous substance, especially a protein, that is produced by living cells or organisms.

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

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

► To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

2. Exult

► To rejoice greatly; be jubilant or triumphant

► A proportional part or share.

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

► The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

3. Embargo

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

► The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

► Having a backbone or spinal column.

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

4. Random

► Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective.

► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

► Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

5. Strategy

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

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

► Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.

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

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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.