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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. Guerrilla

A person authorized to act as representative for another; a deputy.

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 cult or religious movement, a group sharing particular (often unorthodox) political and/or religious beliefs.

An ammunition belt, worn over the shoulder, having loops or pockets for cartridges.


2. Participle

Having a backbone or spinal column.

A form of a verb that in some languages, such as English, can function independently as an adjective.

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

A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.


3. Tumult

A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.

A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

Self-examination.

A disorderly commotion or disturbance.


4. Lichen

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

A movement or procedure involving skill and dexterity.

To condescend to give or grant

A fungus, usually of the class Ascomycetes, that grows symbiotically with algae,


5. Nocturnal

Being without or almost without hope

Of, relating to, or occurring in the night

Harmful, malevolent, injurious. Harmfully cancerous.

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


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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.