insurance

noun

in·sur·ance | \in-ˈshu̇r-ən(t)s,

-ˈshər- also ˈin-ˌshu̇r-, -ˌshər-

Definition of insurance

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the business of insuring persons or property

b : coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril

c : the sum for which something is insured

2 : a means of guaranteeing protection or safety The contract is your insurance against price changes. Frequent hand washing is good insurance against the common cold.

3 gambling : a side bet that a player in blackjack may place when the dealer's first faceup card is an ace

Note: An insurance bet can be up to half of a player's original bet. It wins at 2 to 1 odds if the dealer's cards add up to 21.

insurance

adjective

Definition of insurance (Entry 2 of 2)

: being a score that adds to a team's lead and makes it impossible for the opposing team to tie the game with its next score an insurance run

Examples of insurance in a Sentence

Noun

insurance against theft or damage She has a job in insurance. I work for an insurance company.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

If a patient or their insurance company doesn’t want to pay for the test, doctors by default give chemotherapy, Pecora said. — Lindsay Carlton, Fox News, "Data sharing company helps improve cancer patient outcomes, reduce total cost of care," 13 July 2018 Inspectors also conducted interviews with officials and insurance companies in five states. — Chad Terhune, Washington Post, "Insurers Fall Short In Catching And Reporting Medicaid Fraud, Inspectors Find," 12 July 2018 The original audit found that the hospital was billing insurance companies for lab services around the country. — Steve Vockrodt, kansascity, "Things still aren’t going well for Missouri hospital skewered by an audit last year," 11 July 2018 Following the setting of a list price, drug companies engage in a complicated dance with pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) and insurance companies. — Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, "3 Key Lessons From Trump's Drug Price Feud With Pfizer," 11 July 2018 Late Saturday morning, two of the homeowners aimed cellphone cameras at the destruction to record video for their insurance companies. — J. Harry Jones, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Some Alpine fire evacuations lifted; residents find homes in ruins," 7 July 2018 Many of these are unserious and relatively unremarkable, the sort of thing that might happen to a human driver and that an insurance company would never hear about. — Aarian Marshall, WIRED, "A Cruise-on-Cruise Crash Reveals the Hardest Thing About Self-Driving Tech," 3 July 2018 Diabetes Education is covered by Medicare, Indiana Medicaid and most insurance plans. — Staff Report, Post-Tribune, "Community news," 11 July 2018 The government uses a similar approach with Medicare private insurance plans and the Medicare prescription drug benefit. — NBC News, "Trump administration takes another swipe at Obamacare," 9 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'insurance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near insurance

Phrases Related to insurance

National Insurance

homeowner's insurance

take out insurance on

whole life insurance

Statistics for insurance

Last Updated

9 Oct 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for insurance

The first known use of insurance was in 1651

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More Definitions for insurance

insurance

noun

English Language Learners Definition of insurance

: an agreement in which a person makes regular payments to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen

: the amount of money a person regularly pays an insurance company as part of an insurance agreement

: the amount of money that a person receives from an insurance company

See the full definition for insurance in the English Language Learners Dictionary

insurance

noun

in·sur·ance | \in-ˈshu̇r-əns

Kids Definition of insurance

1 : an agreement by which a person pays a company and the company promises to pay money if the person becomes injured or dies or to pay for the value of property lost or damaged

2 : the amount for which something is insured

3 : the business of insuring persons or property

insurance

noun

in·sur·ance | \in-ˈshu̇r-əns, ˈin-ˌshu̇r-

Legal Definition of insurance

1 : the action, process, or means of insuring or the state of being insured usually against loss or damage by a contingent event (as death, fire, accident, or sickness)

2a : the business of insuring persons or property

b : coverage by contract whereby for an agreed payment one party agrees to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril

c : the principles and practice of the business of insuring

3 : the sum for which something is insured