Classroomtools.com Warm-up Activity - Words in the Spotlight

Italicized links open a new window to an external site

Lesson Ideas
Warm-up Activities
Words in the Spotlight
Is That A Word?

Words That Were Born With You

The list below contains words and phrases that (according to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth edition) were first written in English sometime during the year of your birth.

Write out the name of the collegiate dictionary you used for this assignment. Include its publisher and publication date.

Pick a noun from the list. Write it here. _________________________

Read your dictionary's definition, then use the word/phrase in a complete, correctly written sentence.

Pick a verb from the list. Write it here. _________________________

Read your dictionary's definition, then use the word/phrase in a complete, correctly written sentence.

Pick an adjective from the list. Write it here. _________________________

Read your dictionary's definition, then use the word/phrase in a complete, correctly written sentence.

Words/Phrases that entered the English language in 1983
Source: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition

break dancing	CD–ROM	chill out	comparable worth
date rape	designer drug	dorky	dweeb
enokidake	ghetto blaster	greenmail	Hawaii-Aleutian time
hip–hop	laari	mentor	nuclear winter
poison pill	politically correct	postfeminist	PPO
RU 486	rust belt	Samoa time	sleazebag
stressed–out	superstring	sysop	T4 cell
upload	Western blot	yup	yuppie

If you want the list for a different year, enter it in the date search box of the advanced search section of Merriam-Webster Collegiate online.

return to the Is That A Word? page

return to the Words in the Spotlight page

return to the Warm-up activities page

return to the Lesson Ideas page