Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

ROOSTER TAIL

DEFINITION:
A high-arching spray (as of water, dust, or snow) thrown up behind a fast-moving motorboat, motor vehicle, or skier.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
A second red flag was waved during the fifth race of the day when Rollin Transport got into a rooster tail on the turn of the first lap, resulting in the boat going onto its side before flipping.
►The Key West Citizen, 11/10/2025

Generate your own quiz
Select a grade level
 Elementary
 Middle School
 High School
Select a quiz type
 By words
 By Definitions
Select how many questions
5   10   15   20  

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. Quandary

► A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane.

► A state of uncertainty or perplexity.

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

► Conversation between characters in a drama or narrative

2. Voracious

► The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.

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

► Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous.

► Appropriateness of behavior or conduct

3. Aspire

► The branch of biology that deals with animals and animal life, including the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals.

► The distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year.

► To have a great ambition or ultimate goal

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

4. Divulge

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

► The locus of points for which the sum of the distances from each point to two fixed points is equal

► To proclaim publicly

► Relating to a system of writing, such as that of ancient Egypt, in which pictorial symbols are used to represent meaning or sounds or a combination of meaning and sound.

5. Rainforest

► A dense evergreen forest occupying a tropical region with an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches.

► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

► The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables

► Exceeding the limits of propriety or good manners; improperly forward or bold

Get more Quizzes 

 Elementary School    Middle School   High School  

 By Word     By Definition    5  10  15  20 Questions

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.