Definition

1. Noun:

   • Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something: A confident expectation about another person's character or actions.
   • A legal arrangement in which property or assets are managed by one party (the trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary): A fiduciary relationship involving holding and administering assets.
   • A group of companies that unite to reduce competition and control markets: A business combination or monopoly.
   • The state of being responsible for someone or something: A duty or charge.

2. Verb:

   • To believe in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something: To have confidence or faith in.
   • To allow someone to have, use, or look after (someone or something of value) with confidence: To entrust.
   • To hope or expect something: To express a wish or belief about a future event.
   • To extend financial credit to someone: To sell goods or lend money on the basis of future payment.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The doctor-patient relationship is built on trust.
  • He is the beneficiary of a family trust.
  • The companies formed a trust to control the industry.

• Verb:

  • I trust my assistant with all confidential documents.
  • I trust you will arrive on time. (meaning: I hope/expect)
  • The store will trust him for the payment until next month.

Advanced Usage

• In trust (phrase): Describing property or assets held legally by a trustee.

  • The estate was held in trust for the grandchildren until they turned 21.

• Position of trust (phrase): A role or job involving great responsibility and reliance on one's honesty.

  • Teachers and police officers hold positions of trust in society.

• Brain trust (noun, idiomatic): A group of expert advisers.

  • The president consulted his brain trust before making the decision.

Variants and Related Words

• Trustee (n): A person or organization that holds or manages property in trust for another.
• Trustworthy (adj): Deserving of trust; reliable.
• Trustful / Trusting (adj): Having a tendency to trust others; full of trust.
• Antitrust (adj): (Related to laws) opposing or regulating trusts to prevent monopoly.

Synonyms

• Noun: Confidence, faith, reliance, assurance, credit.
• Verb: Believe in, rely on, depend on, entrust, confide.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Trust in: To have faith or confidence in someone or something (often abstract).
  • She trusts in the goodness of people.
• Trust to: To rely on something, often out of necessity.
  • With no map, we had to trust to luck.

Related Idioms

• Take something on trust: To believe something without proof or evidence.
  • I have no documentation; you'll have to take my word on trust.
• Breach of trust: An act that violates the confidence or responsibility placed in someone.
  • Sharing the client's secrets was a serious breach of trust.
• A leap of faith / A vote of trust: An act of believing in something despite uncertainty.
  • Investing in his startup was a real leap of faith.

Noun

1. a trustful relationship
   • he took me into his confidence
   • he betrayed their trust
2. complete confidence in a person or plan etc
   • he cherished the faith of a good woman
   • the doctor-patient relationship is based on trust
3. a consortium of independent organizations formed to limit competition by controlling the production and distribution of a product or service
   • they set up the trust in the hope of gaining a monopoly
4. the trait of believing in the honesty and reliability of others
   • the experience destroyed his trust and personal dignity
5. certainty based on past experience
   • he wrote the paper with considerable reliance on the work of other scientists
   • he put more trust in his own two legs than in the gun
6. something (as property) held by one party (the trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary)
   • he is the beneficiary of a generous trust set up by his father

Verb

1. extend credit to; I won't pay her debts anymore"
   • don't trust my ex-wife
2. confer a trust upon
   • The messenger was entrusted with the general's secret
   • I commit my soul to God
3. expect and wish
   • I trust you will behave better from now on
   • I hope she understands that she cannot expect a raise
4. be confident about something
   • I believe that he will come back from the war
5. allow without fear
6. have confidence or faith in
   • We can trust in God
   • Rely on your friends
   • bank on your good education
   • I swear by my grandmother's recipes