/ trʌst; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ U ] trust (in sb/sth) the belief that sb/sth is good, sincere, honest, etc. and will not try to harm or trick you :
Her trust in him was unfounded.
a partnership based on trust
It has taken years to earn their trust .
If you put your trust in me, I will not let you down.
She will not betray your trust (= do sth that you have asked her not to do) .
He was appointed to a position of trust (= a job involving a lot of responsibility, because people trust him) .
2.
[ C , U ] ( law ) an arrangement by which an organization or a group of people has legal control of money or property that has been given to sb, usually until that person reaches a particular age; an amount of money or property that is controlled in this way :
He set up a trust for his children.
The money will be held in trust until she is 18.
Our fees depend on the value of the trust.
—see also unit trust
3.
[ C ] ( law ) an organization or a group of people that invests money that is given or lent to it and uses the profits to help a charity :
a charitable trust
4.
[ C ] ( business ) ( especially NAmE ) a group of companies that work together illegally to reduce competition, control prices, etc. :
anti-trust laws
•
IDIOMS
- in sb's trust | in the trust of sb
- take sth on trust
■ verb
1.
to have confidence in sb; to believe that sb is good, sincere, honest, etc. :
[ vn ]
She trusts Alan implicitly.
[ vn to inf ]
You can trust me not to tell anyone.
2.
[ vn ] to believe that sth is true or correct or that you can rely on it :
He trusted her judgement.
Don't trust what the newspapers say!
3.
[ v ( that )] ( formal ) to hope and expect that sth is true :
I trust (that) you have no objections to our proposals?
•
IDIOMS
- not trust sb an inch
- trust you, him, her, etc. (to do sth)
—more at tried
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- trust in sb/sth
- trust to sth
- trust sb with sth/sb
••
SYNONYMS
trust
depend on ♦ rely on ♦ count on ♦ believe in
These words all mean to believe that sb/sth will do what you hope or expect of them or that what they tell you is correct or true.
trust
to believe that sb is good, honest, sincere, etc. and that they will do what you expect of them or do the right thing; to believe that sth is true or correct:
You can trust me not to tell anyone.
•
Don't trust what you read in the newspapers!
depend on
(often used with can / cannot / could / could not ) to trust sb/sth to do what you expect or want, to do the right thing, or to be true or correct:
He was the sort of person you could depend on.
•
Can you depend on her version of what happened?
rely on/upon sb/sth
(used especially with can / cannot / could / could not and should / should not ) to trust sb/sth to do what you expect or want, or to be honest, correct or good enough:
Can I rely on you to keep this secret?
•
You can't rely on any figures you get from them.
trust, depend or rely on/upon sb/sth?
You can trust a person but not a thing or system. You can trust sb's judgement or advice , but not their support. You can depend on sb's advice or support , but not their judgement. Rely on/upon sb/sth is used especially with you can / could or you should to give advice or a promise: I don't really rely on his judgement. •
You can't really rely on his judgement.
count on sb/sth
(often used with can / cannot / could / could not ) to be sure that sb will do what you need them to do, or that sth will happen as you want it to happen:
I'm counting on you to help me.
•
We can't count on the good weather lasting.
believe in sb
to feel that you can trust sb and/or that they will be successful:
They need a leader they can believe in.
PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS :
to trust / depend on / rely on / count on sb/sth to do sth
to trust / believe in sb/sth
to trust / depend on / rely on sb's advice
to trust / rely on sb's judgement
can / cannot / could / could not trust / depend on / rely on / believe in sb/sth
to completely / fully trust / depend on / rely on / count on / believe in sb/sth
to not entirely / not quite trust / depend on / rely on / believe in sb/sth
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old Norse traust , from traustr strong; the verb from Old Norse treysta , assimilated to the noun.