Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PLOY

DEFINITION:
A cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
“First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” said the 44th president, conceding that it does serve as an effective distraction and ploy for attention.
►The Boston Herald, 02/16/2026

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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. Unanimous

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

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

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

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

2. Solstice

► A prohibition by a government on certain or all trade with a foreign nation

► The arrangement of events in time

► To pound, crush, or grind to a powder or dust.

► Either of two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator.

3. Vaccine

► One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.

► One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol.

► A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen.

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

4. Typhoon

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

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

► The food-conducting tissue of vascular plants, consisting of sieve tubes, fibers, parenchyma, and sclereids.

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

5. Deduction

► A schedule of prices or fees.

► The drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

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

► To move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion.

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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.