Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

WILDFIRE

DEFINITION:
An unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but a long drought, low humidity and strong winds were fueling them.
The Key West Citizen, 04/27/2026

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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. Usurp

To make an accusation against.

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

To seize another’s place, authority, or possession wrongfully.

To proceed completely around:


2. Equinox

The lowest point

To remove erroneous, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from (a book, for example) before publication.

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

Impossible to dispute; unquestionable


3. Orthography

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

A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality

Not interesting; dull:

The art or study of correct spelling according to established usage.


4. Antebellum

Vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor.

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

A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.

The process in cell division by which the nucleus divides.


5. Photosynthesis

The side of a right triangle opposite the right angle.

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.

Put together; created.

Clear to the understanding.


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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.