insure

American  

[in-shoor, -shur] / ɪnˈʃʊər, -ˈʃɜr /

verb (used with object)

• insures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• insured,
  past participle,  past
• insuring
  present participle

1. to guarantee against loss or harm.

   Synonyms:

   warrant

2. to secure indemnity to or on, in case of loss, damage, or death.

3. to issue or procure an insurance policy on or for.

4. ensure.

   Synonyms:

   assure

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verb (used without object)

• insures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• insured,
  past participle,  past
• insuring
  present participle

1. to issue or procure an insurance policy.

insure British  

/ ɪnˈʃʊə, -ˈʃɔː /

verb

1. (often foll by against) to guarantee or protect (against risk, loss, etc)

   we insured against disappointment by making an early reservation

2. (often foll by against) to issue (a person) with an insurance policy or take out an insurance policy (on)

   his house was heavily insured against fire

   after all his car accidents the company refuses to insure him again

3. another word (esp US) for ensure ensure

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Usage

What's the difference between insure, ensure, and assure? Insure typically means to guarantee against loss or harm or, more specifically, to cover with insurance. Ensure most commonly means to guarantee or make certain, as in Working hard ensures success. 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:insure = cover with insuranceensure = make sureassure = reassureHere’s an example of insure, ensure, 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 insure, ensure, and assure.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• insurability
  noun
• overinsure
  verb (used with object)
• preinsure
  verb (used with object)
• insurable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• insuring
  present
• insured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• insure
  simple
• insures
  simple
• have insured
  perfect
• has insured
  perfect
• am insuring
  progressive
• are insuring
  progressive
• is insuring
  progressive
• have been insuring
  perfect progressive
• has been insuring
  perfect progressive

Past

• insured
  simple
• had insured
  perfect
• was insuring
  progressive
• were insuring
  progressive
• had been insuring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will insure
  simple
• will have insured
  perfect
• will be insuring
  progressive
• will have been insuring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of insure

1400–50; late Middle English; variant of ensure

Explanation

To insure is to guarantee or protect the monetary value of something with, as you might imagine, insurance. We insure, or protect, our homes and cars and other valuables against loss or damage from accidents by taking out insurance policies. To insure is to pay an insurance company regularly so that if something goes wrong, they’ll help cover the costs. Although it’s certainly reassuring to have insurance, the word insure always has a financial aspect.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

insure insures insured insuring

Long-term agreements are one way that the chip makers can prolong or insure their earnings an margins, by tying up clients into deals that last years.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

He was among 1,451 people across England and Wales to be convicted last week of failing to insure their vehicles.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

“We should insure against the possibility of larger second-round effects until we have evidence to determine they are not materializing,” said Megan Greene, one of four MPC members who don’t work full-time for the BOE.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Melvoin’s stated goal is to insure that all public schools in L.A. serve their students well and that charters and district-operated schools can co-exist beneficially.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

For these blessings and to help insure that He would continue to favor them, the city of Chutreaux wished to thank God.

From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-backed bank insures deposits of up to $250,000 per individual.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026

Cigna, which owns its own PBM, will automatically make this change for all the customers it fully insures in 2027.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

So does the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, which insures anyone with a U.S. bank account.

From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2025

State Farm General, which had about a 20% share of the homeowners insurance market in 2023, insures about 1 million homeowners in the state and has 1.8 million other policies in force.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2025

A new method of producing these bearings insures a perfect bond between the two metals and eliminates breakage.

From Aviation Engines Design?Construction?Operation and Repair by Victor Wilfred Pag?

Individual artificial-intelligence data centers are often worth $20 billion upward each, making them among the most valuable insured assets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026

County residents are insured by Medi-Cal, according to a recent report by the California Health Care Foundation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

The approval by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency opens the door to Revolut eventually offering loans, credit cards and insured deposits to US customers directly.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

Road legal versions of the e-motorbikes have to be registered, taxed and insured.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

“Well, for one thing I just insured your sister's babies, Sarah and Stephen.”

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Yet despite the theoretical value of these contracts in insuring against outliving one’s wealth, people very rarely buy annuities.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026

Buffett has lavished praise on the executive for his preternatural ability to craft offbeat policies, including insuring Chicago’s tallest building against terrorist attacks and Pepsi against having to award a $1 billion raffle prize.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026

Owning one of these funds puts you in the position of insuring against a moderate-to-severe decline in stock prices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

The actual financial benefits depend on whether you are insuring your car, your home or your life — and whether the potential long-term gains outweigh the higher upfront costs.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026

As it turned out, Lippmann had a new problem: U.S. house prices were falling, subprime loan defaults were rising, yet subprime mortgage bonds somehow held firm, as did the price of insuring them.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

• assure
• cover
• guarantee
• hedge
• safeguard
• shield
• underwrite