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trust

American  

[truhst] / trʌst /

noun

• trusts
  plural

1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

   Synonyms:

   faith, belief, certainty

2. confident expectation of something; hope.

3. confidence in the certainty of future payment for property or goods received; credit.

   to sell merchandise on trust.

4. a person on whom or thing on which one relies.

   God is my trust.

5. the condition of one to whom something has been entrusted.

6. the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed.

   a position of trust.

7. charge, custody, or care.

   to leave valuables in someone's trust.

8. something committed or entrusted to one's care for use or safekeeping, as an office, duty, or the like; responsibility; charge.

   Synonyms:

   commission, commitment

9. Law.

   1. a fiduciary relationship in which one person (the trustee) holds the title to property (the trust estate or trust property) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary).

   2. the property or funds so held.

10. Commerce.

    1. an illegal combination of industrial or commercial companies in which the stock of the constituent companies is controlled by a central board of trustees, a group of people who have assumed the authority to supervise the affairs of the constituent companies, thus making it possible to manage the companies so as to minimize production costs, control prices, eliminate competition, etc.

    2. any large industrial or commercial corporation or combination having a monopolistic or semimonopolistic control over the production of some commodity or service.

11. Archaic. reliability.

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adjective

1. Law. of or relating to trusts or a trust.

verb (used without object)

• trusts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trusted,
  past participle,  past
• trusting
  present participle

1. to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something (usually followed by in orto ).

   to trust in another's honesty; trusting to luck.

2. to have confidence; hope.

   Things work out if one only trusts.

3. to sell merchandise on credit.

verb (used with object)

• trusts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trusted,
  past participle,  past
• trusting
  present participle

1. to have trust or confidence in; rely or depend on.

2. to believe.

   Synonyms:

   credit

3. to expect confidently; hope (usually followed by a clause or infinitive as object).

   trusting the job would soon be finished; trusting to find oil on the land.

4. to commit or consign with trust or confidence.

   Synonyms:

   entrust

5. to permit to remain or go somewhere or to do something without fear of consequences.

   He does not trust his children out of his sight.

6. to invest with a trust; entrust or charge with the responsibility for something.

   We trust her to improve the finances of the company within the year.

7. to give credit to (a person) for goods, services, etc., supplied.

   Will you trust us till payday?

verb phrase

1. trust to to rely on; trust.

   Never trust to luck!

idioms

1. in trust, in the position of being left in the care or guardianship of another.

   She left money to her uncle to keep in trust for her children.

trust British  

/ trʌst /

noun

1. reliance on and confidence in the truth, worth, reliability, etc, of a person or thing; faith

2. a group of commercial enterprises combined to monopolize and control the market for any commodity: illegal in the US

3. the obligation of someone in a responsible position

   a position of trust

4. custody, charge, or care

   a child placed in my trust

5. a person or thing in which confidence or faith is placed

6. commercial credit

7. 1. an arrangement whereby a person to whom the legal title to property is conveyed (the trustee) holds such property for the benefit of those entitled to the beneficial interest

   2. property that is the subject of such an arrangement

   3. the confidence put in the trustee

8. (in the British National Health Service) a self-governing hospital, group of hospitals, or other body providing health-care services, which operates as an independent commercial unit within the NHS

9. See trust company trust account

10. (modifier) of or relating to a trust or trusts

    trust property

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verb

1. (tr; may take a clause as object) to expect, hope, or suppose

   I trust that you are well

2. to place confidence in (someone to do something); have faith (in); rely (upon)

   I trust him to tell her

3. (tr) to consign for care

   the child was trusted to my care

4. (tr) to allow (someone to do something) with confidence in his or her good sense or honesty

   I trust my daughter to go

5. (tr) to extend business credit to

trust Cultural  

1. A combination of firms or corporations for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices throughout a business or industry. Trusts are generally prohibited or restricted by antitrust legislation. (Compare monopoly.)

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trust More Idioms  

1. see brain trust; in trust.

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Synonym Usage

Trust, assurance, confidence imply a feeling of security. Trust implies instinctive unquestioning belief in and reliance upon something: to have trust in one's parents. Confidence implies conscious trust because of good reasons, definite evidence, or past experience: to have confidence in the outcome of events. Assurance implies absolute confidence and certainty: to feel an assurance of victory.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nontrust
  noun
• self-trust
  noun
• trustability
  noun
• truster
  noun
• overtrust
  verb
• trustable
  adjective
• untrustable
  adjective
• untrusted
  adjective
• well-trusted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trusts
  plural

Participles

• trusting
  present
• trusted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• trust
  simple
• trusts
  simple
• have trusted
  perfect
• has trusted
  perfect
• am trusting
  progressive
• are trusting
  progressive
• is trusting
  progressive
• have been trusting
  perfect progressive
• has been trusting
  perfect progressive

Past

• trusted
  simple
• had trusted
  perfect
• was trusting
  progressive
• were trusting
  progressive
• had been trusting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will trust
  simple
• will have trusted
  perfect
• will be trusting
  progressive
• will have been trusting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of trust

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English noun from Old Norse traust “trust” (cognate with German Trost “comfort”); Middle English verb trusten, from Old Norse treysta, derivative of traust

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Explanation

If you trust someone then you believe that they’re honest and reliable. If you loan your car to someone, you had better trust them to bring it back to you, and in good shape. Trust takes many forms. You could trust in something abstract, like the idea that things happen for a reason. If you are naïve, people might take advantage of your trust. A trust can also be a fund or an alliance meant to take care of something. A trust fund gives money to some lucky trustee so that he doesn’t need to worry about employment. A wildlife trust saves land from development so animals can live there.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trust trusts trusted trusting

On Monday he asked "ministers, secretaries and the highest state authorities who hold positions of trust to submit their resignations."

From Barron's ● Nov. 9, 2026

Organic children’s food startup Once Upon a Farm, co-founded by actress Jennifer Garner and a veteran food executive, is striving to retain consumer trust following a voluntary recall of one of its products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026

The Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes, external was commissioned by the multi-academy trust Star Academies, and is supported by the Department for Education.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026

With loyalty comes trust — and McCoy knew that if he wanted to be in rooms where a haircut could pivot to a culture-shifting moment, he’d need to gain it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2026

I can’t trust what anybody is saying about Mom—not Aunt Melissa, not Camille, not the smug news anchors.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

The wildlife trusts believe "this rich tapestry of wildlife could be richer still" if more species return over the next 10 years.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

He recently turned 18 but cannot access adult disability services because of the way health trusts assess support needs using an IQ test.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

Shares of real estate investment trusts that lease data centers to hyperscalers like Meta and Amazon were falling Thursday.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

Marital trusts are popular for blended families as a way to pass assets to a surviving spouse and still protect children’s inheritance.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026

"Confidential. I think he kinda trusts me not to blab his texts, you know?"

From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

Nonetheless, the president on Friday elevated Mr. Miller to White House chief of staff, hailing him as “one of my most trusted advisers.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2026

Bakery downtown quickly evolved into a network of trusted advisors, who helped shape her campaign promises and fine-tune policy proposals so they could be executed on day one.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

"He can no longer be trusted and must be replaced."

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

In an open letter to colleagues last week, Lockhart said it was the "only one credible option" and any kind of "graduated response" would be "insulting to those who have trusted us".

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Why would the trusted seamstress and maidservant of Martha Washington, who had been at her side for more than ten years, run away in the first place?

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

"I remained as focused as I could be, working hard, trusting myself, because for all that decision in the Liverpool-Tottenham game, I've made hundreds of other decisions that are correct."

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026

That influence rests on fans trusting creators to tell it like it is.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

You can’t have these awkward conversations without trusting relationships.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

That Musk is considering working with another chip manufacturer could be viewed by investors “as a lack of confidence in trusting the future of his important endeavor to Intel alone,” he added.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

Josie trusting Max enough to tell him the truth.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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Related Words

• confidence
• expectation
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• hope

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