Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

SUREFIRE

DEFINITION:
Certain or likely, especially to succeed.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
Kirby taught himself how to count cards, a surefire way to get barred from gambling at a casino, “raking in money on trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas,” the article stated.
►The Las Vegas Review-Journal, 05/04/2026

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Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle 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. Recede

► One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.

► The pattern produced on a photosensitive medium that has been exposed by holography and then photographically developed.

► To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark

► Having a backbone or spinal column.

2. Embargo

► Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

► The arrangement of events in time

► The supporting and water-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting primarily of tracheids and vessels; woody tissue.

► A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation

3. Deduction

► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

► The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war.

► The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

► To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.

4. Yacht

► Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.

► The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

► To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

► Any of various relatively small sailing or motor-driven vessels used for pleasure cruises or racing.

5. Outrageous

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

► A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

► A closed plane figure bounded by three or more line segments.

► A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface.

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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.