CONFIDE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does confide mean? 

• CONFIDE (verb)
  The verb CONFIDE has 2 senses:

1. reveal in private; tell confidentially

2. confer a trust upon

  Familiarity information: CONFIDE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONFIDE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they confide    ... he / she / it confides   
Past simple: confided   
Past participle: confided   
-ing form: confiding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reveal in private; tell confidentially

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "confide" is one way to...):

break; bring out; disclose; discover; divulge; expose; give away; let on; let out; reveal; uncover; unwrap (make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret)

"Confide" entails doing...:

trust (have confidence or faith in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confide"):

relieve; unbosom (relieve oneself of troubling information)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

They confide that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

confidant (someone to whom private matters are confided)

confidence (a secret that is confided or entrusted to another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Confer a trust upon

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

commit; confide; entrust; intrust; trust

Context example:

I commit my soul to God

Hypernyms (to "confide" is one way to...):

give; hand; pass; pass on; reach; turn over (place into the hands or custody of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "confide"):

commend (give to in charge)

charge; consign (give over to another for care or safekeeping)

recommit (commit again)

obligate (commit in order to fulfill an obligation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

confidence (a trustful relationship)

 Context examples 

I am very miserable!—only that I doubted, even at that pass, if Mrs. Crupp were quite the sort of woman to confide in!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you again this afternoon.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As to Mycroft, I had to confide in him in order to obtain the money which I needed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They are not so wild and handsome, but they seem happy, confiding little things.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Mrs. Westenra has confided to me that her doom is spoken—disease of the heart—though poor Lucy does not know it yet.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As he went on his voice again grew soft, and a confiding note came into it.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“I could so wholly and absolutely confide in her,” said he; “and that is what I want.”

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I shall do nothing rashly: you know me sufficiently to confide in my prudence and considerateness whenever the safety of others is committed to my care.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He was wishing to confide in her—perhaps to consult her;—cost her what it would, she would listen.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

He would have cut his right hand off before he would sell a State secret confided to his keeping.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)