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Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PLOY

DEFINITION:
A cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
“First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” said the 44th president, conceding that it does serve as an effective distraction and ploy for attention.
The Boston Herald, 02/16/2026

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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. Temblor

A place or situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it.

Having a bad disposition; surly.

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

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


2. Filibuster

Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy.

The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action.

Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War.

An advocate of the extension of political voting rights, especially to women.


3. Equinox

To increase the positive charge or valence of (an element) by removing electrons.

Not interesting; dull:

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

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


4. Irony

Warlike in manner or temperament; pugnacious.

The lowest point

To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of.

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


5. Winnow

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

A plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the cone.

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.

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


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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.