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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. Wrought

A reproductive cell having the haploid number of chromosomes, especially a mature sperm or egg capable of fusing with a gamete of the opposite sex to produce the fertilized egg.

To bring under control; conquer.

Put together; created.

An extremely distant, and thus old, celestial object whose power output is several thousand times that of our entire galaxy.


2. Jejune

Clear to the understanding.

To insert or introduce between other elements or parts.

To endow with the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote.

Not interesting; dull:


3. Vehement

A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.

To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of.

To make an accusation against.

Characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction; fervid.


4. Auspicious

Attended by favorable circumstances; propitious.

A form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life,

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

A part, portion, or share.


5. Respiration

The act or process of inhaling and exhaling; breathing.

Physics that deals with the relationships and conversions between heat and other forms of energy.

To picture falsely; misrepresent.

To show servile deference.


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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.