life insurance

American

noun

insurance providing for payment of a sum of money to a named beneficiary upon the death of the policyholder or to the policyholder if still living after reaching a specified age.

life insurance British

noun

another name for life assurance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of life insurance

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Life insurance: Beneficiaries trump a last will and testament.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 13, 2025

Life insurance benefits will be distributed to athletes’ family or chosen beneficiaries upon their death.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2025

Life insurance — which can provide tax-free proceeds to the survivor — is one option, but buying a sufficiently large policy may not be affordable for older people, O’Neill notes.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 13, 2023

We had two free tickets on our Vitality Life insurance app so I paid £5.99 for one ticket and we took our own snacks in.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2023

Life insurance is a great institution, and should be a sacred institution—provided it is honest life insurance.

From Frenzied Finance Vol. 1: The Crime of Amalgamated by Lawson, Thomas William

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023