Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - confidence

~ n 1 »FEELING SB/STH IS GOOD« the feeling that you can trust someone or something to be good, work well, or produce good results + in  (Our first priority is to maintain the customer's confidence in our product.) have confidence in  (We have every confidence in your abilities. | win/gain/lose sb's confidence (in))  (Opinion polls show that voters have lost confidence in the administration. | inspire/restore/undermine confidence (in) (=make people feel more or less confident about something or someone))  (These miscarriages of justice have undermined confidence in our legal system. | show confidence (in))  (Middle-aged people generally do not show as much confidence in what the future holds as do the young.) 2 »BELIEF IN YOURSELF« the belief that you have the ability to do things well or deal with situations successfully  (Joyce always had an abundance of confidence. She seemed to fear no one. | lack confidence/be lacking in confidence)  (She's a good student but she lacks confidence in herself. | lack of confidence)  (A lack of confidence seems to be her main problem. | give sb confidence)  (Living on her own in a foreign country for a year gave her a lot of confidence. | give sb the confidence to do sth)  (Good training will give a beginner the confidence to enjoy skiing. | restore/lose confidence)  (Going back to work restored my confidence and made me feel more capable. | boost/shake sb's confidence (=make someone feel more or less confident))  (Julie's confidence was badly shaken by her car accident.) 3 »FEELING STH IS TRUE« the feeling that something is definite or true  (How can anyone say with confidence that the recession is over? | have confidence that)  (At that time he had little confidence that God existed.) 4 »FEELING OF TRUST« a feeling of trust in someone, so that you can tell them something and be sure they will not tell other people  (have/gain/get sb's confidence (=make someone feel they can trust you))  (It took me a long time to gain his confidence, but he trusts me now. | in (strict) confidence (=if you tell someone something in confidence, you tell them in secret and they must not tell anyone else))  (I'm giving you this information in the strictest confidence. | take sb into your confidence (=tell someone something secret))  (Tanya took Liane into her confidence about her marital problems.) 5 »A SECRET« a secret or a piece of information that is private or personal  (They spent their evenings drinking wine by the fire and sharing confidences.)  (- see also vote of confidence, vote of no confidence)