Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

CANVASS

DEFINITION:
A systematic approach to interviewing residents, merchants, and others who are in the immediate vicinity of a crime and may have useful information.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
In a press release, police said Lewisville Fire Department officials pronounced the man deceased on the scene. Police started a homicide investigation immediately, and canvassed the area in search of witnesses.
►The Denton Record-Chronicle, 09/14/2026

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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. pertinent

► Anything that may be possible; a possibility

► Speech or language that is incomprehensible or unintelligible; gibberish.

► The power to affect, control or manipulate something or someone; the ability to change the development of fluctuating things such as conduct, thoughts or decisions.

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

2. ominous

► The line that bounds a circle or other two-dimensional figure.

► Deduce or conclude (information) from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements

► A form of acrobatic display which involves the dramatic bending and flexing of the human body.

► Specifically, giving indication of a coming ill; being an evil omen

3. convey

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

► Facts or observations presented in support of an assertion.

► Make an idea, impression, or feeling known or understandable to someone.

► To stick out

4. scarcity

► An inadequate amount of something; a shortage

► A large or dense group of insects, esp. flying ones.

► To completely engage the attention of.

► Progress toward a goal.

5. recluse

► More than half (50%) of some group

► Hidden, secret

► To drive away by scattering, or so to cause to vanish.

► Strange or mysterious, esp. in an unsettling way

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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.