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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

FOOTHOLD

DEFINITION:
A position usable as a base for further advance.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Growing national anxiety over the impact of massive data centers on communities has found a foothold in Greater Boston in the form of Markley’s Lowell location.
The Boston Herald, 08/10/2026

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Words in the News Quiz
5 High 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. Auspicious

To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate.

Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious.

A temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories.

Shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane.


2. Nanotechnology

The science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules.

Deception by trickery or sophistry.

An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system.

Either of two points on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator.


3. Notarize

To certify or attest to (the validity of a signature on a document, for example) as a notary public.

To bring under control; conquer.

To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections.

Of the same or similar nature or kind


4. Hemoglobin

Everyday; commonplace.

The iron-containing respiratory pigment in red blood cells of vertebrates.

The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source.

Playfully jocular; humorous


5. Abjure

Architectural.

To renounce under oath; forswear.

Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness.

A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.


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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.