trust

TRUST/tɹʌst/

Pluraltrusts (some meanings)

Verbtrusts, trusting, trusted

17 meanings of trust

Practice

1
noununcountable
Confidence in, or reliance on, a person, thing, or quality, including hopeful confidence in what the future will bring.
Public trust in the government fell sharply after the scandal.
Their friendship rested on a deep mutual trust.
UsageUse in: trust in the government. Typical verbs: build, earn, gain, lose someone's trust.
Similarconfidence, faith, belief, reliance
Oppositedistrust, mistrust, suspicion, doubt
2
verbtransitive
To have confidence in a person or thing and rely on their honesty, ability, or support; also, to be generally willing to believe and rely on others.
Voters trust experienced leaders during a crisis.
She trusted the surgeon completely before the operation.
UsageTakes a direct object: trust a person or their word. Trust in God suggests faith; trust to luck means rely on it.
Oppositedistrust, mistrust, doubt, suspect
Note
The direct-object verb: you trust a person, their word or a thing, with nothing in between, as in Shakespeare's "I will never trust his word after." Two prepositional relatives sit nearby. Trust in leans toward faith, as in trusting in God, while trust to means falling back on something impersonal, such as luck or memory. Samuel Johnson's warning covers all three: "He that trusts without reserve will at last be deceived."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The quoted wording occurs in Shakespeare's Henry V, Act 4, scene 1; King Henry is the speaker. folger.edu
Samuel Johnson wrote the quoted warning in The Rambler, No. 162. gutenberg.org
3
nouncountable
A legal arrangement in which property or money is held and managed by one party (a trustee) for the benefit of another (a beneficiary); such property is said to be held in trust.
The estate was placed in a trust for the children.
A family trust shielded the assets from probate.
UsageCommon patterns: set up a trust, hold money in trust for someone, a family trust.
Note
Three roles make the arrangement work. The settlor gives the property. The trustee holds legal title and manages it. The beneficiary holds the equitable interest and may benefit.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
The settlor supplies the trust property. gov.uk
The trustee holds legal title. gov.uk
The trustee manages the property. gov.uk
The beneficiary holds the equitable interest. gov.uk
4
believe claimsverbtransitive
To give credence to; to believe or credit what is said or claimed.
Few readers trust rumors that lack any source.
He refused to trust the witness's account.
Similarbelieve, credit, accept
Oppositedoubt, disbelieve, question
Note
Belief in what is said, rather than in who says it, is the point here. Shakespeare's "Trust me, you looke well" in Henry IV, Part 2 shows the imperative trust me already vouching for a statement. Much later, that phrase was clipped to the slang interjection.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
William Shakespeare wrote Henry IV, Part 2. gutenberg.org
The quoted words occur in the play and use the imperative to support a statement. gutenberg.org
The slang interjection trust is a shortened form of trust me. en.wiktionary.org
5
expectverbtransitive
To hope confidently; to believe that something is or will be the case, usually with a clause as the object.
I trust the arrangements meet with your approval.
She trusted that her efforts would not go unnoticed.
UsageUsually I trust + a clause: I trust you slept well. Polite, but it can press a firm expectation.
Similarhope, expect, assume, presume, believe
Note
A polite verb with an edge. "I trust the arrangements meet with your approval" sounds courteous, but "I trust you have cleaned your room?" is an expectation dressed up as a hope. The King James Bible of 1611 could also give it an infinitive: "I trust to come unto you."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikisource.org
The King James Bible contains “I trust to come unto you,” illustrating trust followed by an infinitive, in 2 John 1:12. en.wikisource.org
6
take my wordinterjectionslangabbreviationellipsis
Short for trust me: used to tell someone to believe what you are saying.
That place has the best tacos in town, trust.
Trust, he knows exactly what he's doing.
UsageUsually comes after the claim it backs: it's worth it, trust. In formal writing, use trust me.
Note
A clipped reassurance from casual slang, common in online posts. All that remains is the verb of the imperative trust me.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Standalone slang trust is an elliptical form of trust me. en.wiktionary.org
7
verbtransitive
To show confidence in someone by placing a responsibility or possession in their care.
The director trusts her deputy with every major decision.
Would you trust your neighbor with a spare key to your house?
UsageTrust someone with something, or trust something to someone: the same act from either end.
Similarentrust, charge
Note
Here confidence is shown by handing something over, and the construction puts the person first: you trust someone with something, as when Arimant in Dryden's Aureng-Zebe speaks of one "whom, with your power and fortune, sir, you trust."

Less common meanings

8
business groupnouncountable
A combination of businesses or traders organized for mutual benefit to produce and distribute goods or services, run by a central board of trustees.
The railroad trust set prices across the entire region.
Reformers campaigned against the powerful sugar trust.
Similarcartel, monopoly, syndicate, combine, conglomerate
Note
The legal device was turned into a business weapon. Formerly competing firms came under a central body of trustees, who could then run them as one. That control over production and prices made trusts a principal target of reformers and of antitrust legislation, and that compound still preserves the sense. The classic collocations name an industry, such as the sugar trust or the railroad trust.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
The business trust developed through adaptation of an existing legal device. en.wikipedia.org
Previously competing companies were brought under a single board of trustees. rd.usda.gov
Trustees could control production levels and prices across the combined businesses. rd.usda.gov
Trusts became targets of reform movements and legislation intended to limit their power. rd.usda.gov
The term antitrust preserves the historical connection with business trusts. rd.usda.gov
9
nouncountable or uncountable
A duty or responsibility held by someone who has been given care or control of something, or a position involving such duty; also, the thing placed in one's care.
A judge occupies one of the highest positions of trust in society.
Betraying so high a trust would end his career.
UsageCommon phrases: a position of trust, a sacred trust, betray a trust.
Similarresponsibility, duty, charge
Note
A word of office and duty. To be put in trust, as King Lear has it, is to be given a charge you must carry out faithfully. What is held is the responsibility itself, not any object handed over.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
King Lear contains the expression 'put in trust' in the context of faithful service. The speaker is Kent, addressing Lear. shakespeare.mit.edu
Trust can also mean the thing entrusted to someone's care, as the supplied meaning itself acknowledges. en.wiktionary.org
10
nounrareuncountable
The quality of being trustworthy; dependability or reliability in a person or thing.
Similarreliability, dependability, integrity
11
on creditnoununcountable
Confidence that goods or services supplied now will be paid for in the future; credit.
Local farmers often bought seed on trust before the harvest.
The corner store sold on trust, and families paid at the end of the month.
UsageUsually in the set phrase on trust: buy or sell on trust.
Similarcredit
Note
Credit once had a homelier name. The fixed phrase on trust carries this commercial meaning: a landlady lets a lodger who is out of cash have something on trust, and payment follows when it can. The confidence is the seller's, placed in the buyer's future honesty. The verb that names the customer is trusting a buyer with goods.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Trust historically meant credit, including in the phrase on trust. en.wikisource.org
12
computer accessnoununcountable
In computing and security, confidence that a user, system, key, or certificate is genuine and reliable, or a relationship that lets one system accept another's authentication.
The server establishes trust before allowing any data transfer.
Administrators revoke trust when an employee leaves the company.
Note
Computing borrows the word for a security relationship between a system and its users. Trust rests on a verified identity, key or certificate, or on an agreement between two systems. A server may establish trust before letting data move, and administrators revoke it when someone leaves.
13
verbarchaictransitive
To risk something or venture it confidently, committing it to chance or to another's keeping.
[Beguiled] by thee to trust thee from my side.
1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost
Note
Here trusting is a gamble. Milton writes "to trust thee from my side" in Paradise Lost (1667), meaning to let someone go and stake their safety on the parting. The object is whatever is put at risk, and the phrase often says where it is sent.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Milton wrote the quoted words in Paradise Lost; they occur in Adam's speech to Eve. en.wikisource.org
Paradise Lost was first published in 1667. christs.cam.ac.uk
The historical transitive sense means to risk or venture confidently, as illustrated by Milton's quotation. en.wiktionary.org
14
adjectiveobsolete
Faithful and dependable; worthy of reliance.
Note
The loyal counterpart to the "safe" adjective. It praised a person or thing as faithful and dependable. Meeting it in an old text is no sign of an error; it simply describes someone who could be relied on.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Trust had an adjective sense meaning safe or secure. en.wiktionary.org
Trust also had an adjective sense meaning faithful and dependable. en.wiktionary.org
15
adjectiveobsolete
Secure or safe; free from danger or risk.
Note
An adjective the language has let go. It meant secure or safe, close to the Middle English noun's sense of protection. In older texts, read it simply as safe.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Trust had an adjective sense meaning secure or safe, now obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
The Middle English noun had a sense meaning protection. en.wiktionary.org
16
nounarchaic
The person or thing in which confidence is placed; the basis of one's reliance or hope.
O Lord God, thou art my trust from my youth.
1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version
17
verbdated
To sell or hand over goods to someone on credit, relying on their promise to pay later.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of trust apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Middle English had trust or trost, meaning "trust, protection." Scholars long took it as a loan from Old Norse traust ("confidence, help, protection"), but its vowel does not match. The current view is that it continues an Old English *trust that was never recorded, built on an uncommon Proto-Germanic form of the same root. Its ultimate source is *deru-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "be firm, hard, solid." Tryst is a doublet, and true and tree are related.