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

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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

► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline

► A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.

► One that is inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious; a bother.

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

2. Mosaic

► A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as of stone or tile, into a surface.

► An alteration or change, as in nature, form, or quality.

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

► The main character in a drama or other literary work.

3. Silhouette

► The main character in a drama or other literary work.

► A treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of Arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation

► A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.

► To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion

4. Yacht

► A diffuse mass of interstellar dust or gas or both, visible as luminous patches or areas of darkness

► Having or demonstrating enthusiasm

► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.

► Any of various relatively small sailing or motor-driven vessels used for pleasure cruises or racing.

5. Tempo

► A member of an irregular, usually indigenous military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass and undermine the enemy

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

► Not subject to an obligation imposed on others; exempt.

► A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

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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.