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 Elementary 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. pristine

► Unspoiled; still with its original purity; uncorrupted or unsullied

► To exclude; to specify as being an exception.

► Important with regards to (a subject or matter); relevant

► A particular geographic region.

2. gusto

► A particular geographic region.

► The energy and strength for continuing to do something over a long period of time ; power of sustained exertion, or resistance to hardship, illness etc.

► Enthusiasm; enjoyment, vigor

► Sly; crafty; clever in surreptitious behaviour.

3. materialize

► To build or form something by assembling parts.

► The state of being serene; calmness; peacefulness.

► To cause to take physical form, or to cause an object to appear.

► Open resistance; bold disobedience.

4. cause

► The fervor or tireless devotion for a person, cause, or ideal and determination in its furtherance; diligent enthusiasm; powerful interest.

► The source or reason of an event or action

► The place set for the end of a journey, or to which something is sent; place or point aimed at.

► The quantity of motion of a moving body; the impetus gained by a moving object

5. uncanny

► Capable of doing many things competently

► More or most likely to be exposed to the chance of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.

► Strange or mysterious, esp. in an unsettling way

► To follow a winding course

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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.