ensure
Americanverb (used with object)
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ensures,
present (3rd person singular)
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ensured,
past participle, past
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ensuring
present participle
verb
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(may take a clause as object) to make certain or sure; guarantee
this victory will ensure his happiness
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to make safe or secure; protect
Usage
What's the difference between ensure, insure, and assure? Ensure most commonly means to guarantee or make certain, as in Working hard ensures success. Insure typically means to guarantee against loss or harm or, more specifically, to cover with insurance. Assure usually means to tell someone something with confidence or to cause someone to know something with certainty—it often means the same thing as reassure. It’s no wonder there’s confusion between the three words—all three are verbs that are based on the Latin root sēcūrus, meaning safe. Making things even more confusing is the fact that ensure and insure can be used interchangeably in most senses. Still, insure is much more commonly used in the context of insurance, like car insurance, health insurance, and homeowner’s insurance. These kinds of insurance insure you—they give you coverage that provides you with compensation in certain cases and situations. Ensure is typically used in a more general way in the context of actions that are done to make sure that something happens or is the case, as in We need to ensure that the meeting starts on time. Assure is always used in the context of communication, especially in situations in which someone is trying to make someone else feel better about something. It’s used in the phrase rest assured. Here’s a quick cheat sheet to remember the most common uses of each word:ensure = make sureinsure = cover with insuranceassure = reassureHere’s an example of ensure, insure, and assure used correctly in a sentence. Example: She assured me that the company has ensured that every employee has the opportunity to be insured. Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between ensure, insure, and assure.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ensuresimple
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ensuressimple
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have ensuredperfect
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has ensuredperfect
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am ensuringprogressive
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are ensuringprogressive
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is ensuringprogressive
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have been ensuringperfect progressive
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has been ensuringperfect progressive
Past
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ensuredsimple
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had ensuredperfect
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was ensuringprogressive
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were ensuringprogressive
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had been ensuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ensure
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English ensuren, from Anglo-French enseurer; see en- 1 ( def. ), sure ( def. )
Explanation
When you ensure that something will happen, you guarantee it. All that homework will ensure that you have no time for fun this afternoon! Ensure comes from the Old French en- "make" plus seur "sure," and that is exactly what it means today - "to make sure or certain, to guarantee." If you ensure success or someone's safety, you are guaranteeing it. Make sure you can really come through with something before you ensure it!
Vocabulary lists containing ensure
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"The Hunger Games" Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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Chains
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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:
She said the force would work with partners to ensure affected residents would be supported.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
“And then obviously goal number two is to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
"In very busy locations with intensive use it is necessary for organisational reasons to ensure supervision in order to guarantee proper use and cleanliness," Sandra Holzinger, a spokeswoman for the municipality, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
This is where police and organisers use motorbikes and cars to ensure the road is clear at certain junctions and temporarily enforce a closure in theory until all competitors have passed through.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Young instrumentalists are encouraged to practice playing the chromatic scale in order to ensure that they know the fingerings for all the notes.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
It’s not a silver bullet that cures polarization, settles complicated policy debates or ensures that everyone gets along.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
"The option we are offering today is the only way forward that ensures this tragedy does not happen again," Nickolay Mladenov, the board's high representative for Gaza, told Israel's Channel 12 television.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
How tech ensures Pringles isn’t like a glass of wine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
But perhaps the most impressive element of the home is its proximity to the ocean, which ensures jaw-dropping views from every room.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
This process ensures that it’s different from all the other numbers on the list.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
The lawsuit claims Polestar ensured its own demise by refusing to engage with regulators or appeal the government decision as Volvo did.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The target folders ensured that agents apprehended the correct person.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
After Tom O'Sullivan's score, Beirne and Conroy struck to draw Mayo level, although a cleverly worked point from totemic Kingdom midfielder Joe O'Connor ensured Kerry held a slender advantage at the break.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Today, the United States ensured that Boelter will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of release.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
But the slow speed ensured that I wouldn't fall into any more powder pits along the way.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
"Ghana was the crime scene where these atrocities took place, so Ghana cannot afford to be silent on ensuring that we hold perpetrators accountable," Ablakwa says.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
It described the move as a precautionary measure aimed at ensuring the safety of bystanders and the operational capabilities of authorities to counter potential drones.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday, Haiken’s business claims Polestar “declined” to make changes that U.S. authorities wanted, thus ensuring its own demise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
This would continue to provide companies strong financial incentives to discover new, innovative therapies, while also ensuring that pricing is tied to objectively measurable value.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Christopher Lee Armstrong learned the hard way that the Supreme Court has little interest in ensuring that prosecutors exercise their extraordinary discretion in a manner that is fair and nondiscriminatory.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
