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. Analogy

► Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

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

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

► A dense evergreen forest occupying a tropical region with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches.

2. Nocturnal

► Of, relating to, or occurring in the night

► A state of uncertainty or perplexity.

► Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.

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

3. Fallacy

► Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

► To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

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

4. Sacrifice

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

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

► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

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

5. Vacillate

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

► 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.

► Exceeding the limits of propriety or good manners; improperly forward or bold

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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.