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. Xylem

To proclaim publicly

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

Being without or almost without hope

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


2. Vacillate

To swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another.

Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd

Sharing the same opinions or views; being in complete harmony or accord.

To cringe in fear


3. Labyrinth

To cringe in fear

Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.

Appropriateness of behavior or conduct


4. Dialogue

To honor the memory of with a ceremony

An embankment built to prevent flooding

Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative

Any of various nonplacental mammals, including kangaroos, opossums, bandicoots, and wombats, found principally in Australia and the Americas.


5. Technique

Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.

The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.

Any of several rod-shaped bacteria, of the genus Salmonella, that cause food poisoning and other diseases.

A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.


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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.