insurance

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act, business, or system of insuring.
2. n. The state of being insured.
3. n. A means of being insured.
4. n. Coverage by a contract binding a party to indemnify another against specified loss in return for premiums paid.
5. n. The sum or rate for which such a contract insures something.
6. n. The periodic premium paid for this coverage.
7. n. A protective measure: biking helmets that provide insurance against a head injury.
8. adj. Sports Of, relating to, or being a score that increases a team's lead enough to prevent the opposing team from tying the game with one more score: an insurance run.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of insuring or assuring against loss; a system of business by which a company or corporation (called an insurance company, or, rarely, assurance company or society) guarantees the insured to a specified extent and under stipulated conditions against pecuniary loss arising from such contingencies as loss of or damage to property by fire or the efforts to extinguish fire (fire-insurance), or by shipwreck or disaster at sea (marine insurance), or by explosion, breakage, or other accidents to property, or the loss of future earnings, either through disablement (accident-insurance) or through death (life-insurance), etc. Also called assurance.
2. n. Specifically In law, a contract by which one party, for an agreed consideration (which is proportioned to the risk involved), undertakes to compensate the other for loss on a specified thing, from specified causes. The party agreeing to make the compensation is usually called the insurer or underwriter, the other the insured or assured, the agreed consideration the premium, the written contract a policy, the events insured against risks or perils, and the subject, right, or interest to be protected the insurable interest. Bouvier.
3. n. The premium paid for insuring property, life, etc.
4. n. Engagement; betrothal.

Wiktionary

1. n. A means of indemnity against a future occurrence of an uncertain event.
2. n. The business of providing insurance.
3. n. Metaphoric: Any attempt to anticipate an unfavorable event.
4. n. Blackjack: A bet made after the deal, which pays off if the dealer has blackjack.
5. n. countable An insurance policy

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of insuring, or assuring, against loss or damage by a contingent event; a contract whereby, for a stipulated consideration, called premium, one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by certain specified risks. Cf. Assurance, n., 6.
2. n. The premium paid for insuring property or life.
3. n. The sum for which life or property is insured.
4. n. obsolete A guaranty, security, or pledge; assurance.
5. n. Any means of assuring against loss; a precaution.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. written contract or certificate of insurance
2. n. protection against future loss
3. n. promise of reimbursement in the case of loss; paid to people or companies so concerned about hazards that they have made prepayments to an insurance company