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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

Even on the subway, the ads for life insurance.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

Some of Amelia's friends have been so spooked by her experience, they have since taken out wills and life insurance.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Vander Meer took out life insurance policies for him and his wife, with values eventually exceeding $550,000 in March 2005, investigators said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026

Indexed universal life insurance policies have a very specific purpose that can help families, if used correctly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

It was called life insurance but it was really burial insurance, to make sure that when the insurance holders died, they would at least have a decent funeral.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

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