life insurance

noun

: insurance providing for payment of a stipulated sum to a designated beneficiary upon death of the insured

Examples of life insurance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Compared to Roth IRAs, which are limited in contributions and phased out at high income, life insurance offers fewer restrictions. —Jamie Farmer, Forbes.com, 17 June 2025

The incentives range from Amazon vouchers and discounted Apple Watches to subsidized cancer screening tests and savings of up to 25% on life insurance premiums. —Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 6 June 2025

Detective Acting Inspector Steve Windsor told reporters this week that Graeme allegedly tried to claim a $1 million life insurance payout after Jacqueline’s death, The Guardian reported. —Nicole Acosta, People.com, 7 May 2025

Lam established a life insurance agency and an import-export business, and in 1984 opened Vien Dong, a restaurant in Garden Grove that quickly gained a following. —Anh Do, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1781, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for life insurance

• assurance
• durance
• reassurance
• reinsurance

Kids Definition

life insurance

noun

: insurance providing for a specified sum to be paid when the insured person dies

Legal Definition

life insurance

noun

: insurance providing for the payment of money to a designated beneficiary upon the death of the insured see also endowment insurance

— ordinary life insurance

: whole life insurance in this entry

— straight life insurance

: whole life insurance in this entry

— term life insurance

: life insurance that provides coverage for a set term and does not accumulate cash surrender value

— universal life insurance

: life insurance characterized by flexible premiums, benefits, and payment schedules, by the indexing of cash value to money market interest rates, and by the periodic reporting of current value and company costs charged to the account

— universal variable life insurance

: variable universal life insurance in this entry

— variable life insurance

: life insurance in which all or part of the cash value of the policy is located in a tax-deferred investment portfolio with risk assumed by the insured for investment losses compare variable annuity at annuity

— variable universal life insurance

: universal life insurance that includes the investment component of variable life insurance

called also universal variable life insurance

— whole life insurance

: life insurance that provides coverage over the life of the insured and that can be sold for surrender value or used as the basis of low-interest loans

called also ordinary life insurance, straight life insurance