trust fall

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A group exercise in which one person lets themselves drop backward and teammates catch them, to build trust.

   Grammar: Countable: do a trust fall.

   Patterns

   • do a trust fall
   • a trust fall exercise

   The new staff did a trust fall on the first day of the retreat.

   I was nervous before my trust fall, but my team caught me easily.

   The coach used a trust fall to show the players they could rely on each other.

2. 2nouncountablefigurativeinformal

   Any situation where you have to depend completely on someone else without being able to check what they will do.

   Grammar: Used figuratively, often with a: giving the new manager full control was a trust fall.

   Patterns

   • a trust fall with someone
   • a trust fall for someone

   Handing the keys to a stranger felt like a trust fall.

   Signing the contract without reading it was a trust fall.

   Investing in the start-up was a trust fall for the whole family.

Word forms

Common combinations

do a trust fall

Employees were asked to do a trust fall at the workshop.

trust fall exercise

The trust fall exercise made some people laugh and others freeze.

team-building trust fall

A team-building trust fall can be awkward.

catch someone in a trust fall

Four people stood ready to catch her in the trust fall.

a corporate trust fall

He dreaded the corporate trust fall at the retreat.

Synonyms and how they differ

leap of faith

Leap of faith is about believing without proof and is more serious, while trust fall suggests relying on someone's actions.

team-building exercise

Team-building exercise is a broad term, but trust fall names one specific activity.

leap in the dark

A leap in the dark suggests a risky act with unknown outcome, while a trust fall suggests relying on specific people.

act of faith

Act of faith is more formal and religious, whereas trust fall is casual and workplace-flavored.

Word family

trust noun

confidence in someone's reliability

trust verb

to rely on someone

trusting adjective

ready to believe in others

trustworthy adjective

deserving to be relied on

Commonly confused: trust fall or trust fund?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “trust fall”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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