social security

Definition of social security

1 : the principle or practice or a program of public provision (as through social insurance or assistance) for the economic security and social welfare of the individual and his or her family especially, capitalized both Ss : a U.S. government program established in 1935 to include old-age and survivors insurance, contributions to state unemployment insurance, and old-age assistance

2 : money paid out through a social security program began collecting social security

Examples of social security in a Sentence

She is living on social security. He began collecting Social Security checks.

Recent Examples on the Web The result will be an acceleration of population aging, leading to an earlier reckoning with funding shortfalls in social security and other government programs. — Quartz Staff, Quartz, "Mauro Guillén on how the pandemic is accelerating history," 30 June 2020 Like the Jimenez's situation, Laurie's husband is undocumented and does not have a social security number. — CBS News, "Many Americans didn't receive a stimulus check because of who they married," 29 June 2020 Lekso joined hosts Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen to talk about the political issues most important to her community, including social security and veteran benefits. — Maritza Dominguez, The Arizona Republic, "Gaggle Podcast: Could COVID-19 reshape the politics of Lesko's Congressional District 8?," 24 June 2020 The program also provides work visas and access to other government benefits such as a social security number and access to medicare. — Jasmine Aguilera, Time, "Supreme Court Halts White House Effort to End DACA Program," 18 June 2020 The Trump administration is also facing lawsuits over denying coronavirus relief checks to some U.S. citizens married to non-citizens who lack a social security number. — Alexander Tin, CBS News, "As Las Vegas shuttered, many immigrants found no social safety net," 16 June 2020 The present incident follows a 2016 data breach at MSU in which hackers accessed 400,000 records — including names, social security numbers, and university identification numbers — from a database of sensitive personal information. — Samuel Zwickel, Detroit Free Press, "MSU: We won't pay hacker demanding ransom, threatening university over records," 3 June 2020 Immigrants without social security numbers, however, are unable to access any of these options. — Claudia Torrens, The Christian Science Monitor, "Immigrants deliver food and hope to others struggling in crisis," 30 Apr. 2020 Florida has no state income tax, and that holds true for social security benefits, pension income, and withdrawals from IRAs and 40l(k)s. — Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, "10 Best Places to Retire in Florida," 28 Apr. 2020

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

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Social Security number

social selection

social service

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Last Updated

8 Jul 2020

Cite this Entry

“Social security.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20security. Accessed 12 Jul. 2020.

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More Definitions for social security

social security

noun

English Language Learners Definition of social security

: a program in which the government provides money to people who are unable to work because they are old, disabled, or unemployed

: a program in the U.S. that requires workers to make regular payments to a government fund which is used to make payments to people who are unable to work because they are old, disabled, or retired

: money that is paid out through a social security program

See the full definition for social security in the English Language Learners Dictionary

social security

noun

Legal Definition of social security

1 : the principle or practice or a program of public provision (as through social insurance or assistance) for the economic security and social welfare of the individual and his or her family especially, often capitalized both Ss : a U.S. government program established in 1935 to include old-age and survivors insurance, contributions to state unemployment insurance, and old-age assistance

2 : money paid out through a social security program collects social security — see also Social Security Act, Social Security Administration