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.

See Examples For:

life insurance

WSJ | Buy Side: See the top considerations if you’re buying life insurance in your 40s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Are her children required to pay her credit-card debt out of the life insurance?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

According to her complaint, Tenisha and Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s premarital agreement stated that the actor should purchase and maintain a term life insurance policy of $1 million with his wife as the sole beneficiary.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

WSJ | Buy Side: See the best term life insurance companies based on cost, coverage features and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Holmes even wanted Ned to buy life insurance, for surely once his marital strife subsided, he would want to protect Julia and Pearl from destitution in the event of his death.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

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