Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

VERTEBRAE

DEFINITION:
Each of the series of small bones forming the backbone.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
The photographer with The Washington Post who was attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank so badly that several vertebrae were broken said Sunday she was increasingly angry that Israel’s military seems to protect settlers more than the Palestinians they threaten.
►Associated Press, 10/19/2026

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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. Chicanery

► The science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules.

► To divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections.

► Deception by trickery or sophistry.

► Lacking or marked by a lack of self-confidence; shy and timid.

2. Nadir

► The lowest point

► A diligent, dependable worker.

► A factor that determines a range of variations; a boundary

► The basic unit of currency among participating European Union countries.

3. Fatuous

► The basic unit of currency among participating European Union countries.

► To renounce under oath; forswear.

► Vacuously, smugly, and unconsciously foolish.

► Something done or paid to compensate or make amends.

4. Oligarchy

► To certify or attest to (the validity of a signature on a document, for example) as a notary public.

► Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons or families.

► Any of numerous natural and synthetic compounds consisting of up to millions of repeated linked units,

► Having a harmful effect; injurious.

5. Antebellum

► Having a harmful effect; injurious.

► To show servile deference.

► Characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction; fervid.

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

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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.