insurance
- 1A deal where you pay a company and it pays money if a loss it covers happens, such as an accident.
Like a safety net that catches you if something goes wrong.
We bought insurance for our new car.
Her health insurance paid for the hospital visit.
UsageSay buy insurance, and a policy for one contract. You get insurance for your car.
Note
- 2The business of selling insurance to people and companies.
My aunt has worked in insurance for twenty years.
Insurance is one of the biggest businesses in our city.
UsageSay she works in insurance, with no a or the.
- 3Anything you do now to protect yourself from a problem later.
Take an umbrella as insurance in case it rains.
She wrote down the address as insurance in case her phone died.
UsageOften as insurance in case something goes wrong.
Similarprecaution, safeguard, protection, hedge, backup
Note
Less common meaning
- 4An extra bet in the card game blackjack that wins if the dealer has a blackjack.
The dealer showed an ace, so Dad took insurance.
She lost her insurance when the dealer turned over a seven.
UsageSay take insurance.
Note
Practice
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Origin
It comes from an older form, "ensurance."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Insurance comes from the older form ensurance. en.wiktionary.org