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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. Sanguine

The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.

A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.

Cheerfully confident; optimistic.

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


2. Ziggurat

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

Deception by trickery or sophistry.

To make an accusation against.

Having a harmful effect; injurious.


3. Temblor

To make an accusation against.

Having a harmful effect; injurious.

A product of disintegration, destruction, or wearing away; debris.

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


4. Obsequious

Full of or exhibiting servile compliance; fawning.

Impossible to dispute; unquestionable

The art or study of correct spelling according to established usage.

To abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority.


5. Nonsectarian

Not limited to or associated with a particular religious denomination.

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

A circular strand of DNA in bacteria that contains the hereditary information necessary for cell life.

A factor that determines a range of variations; a boundary


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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.