Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: treowth 'faithfulness'

truth

 noun
     
truth S1 W2
1

true facts

the truth

the true facts about something, rather than what is untrue, imagined, or guessed [≠ lie, falsehood, untruth]COLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
find out/discover/get to the truth reveal the truth tell the truth speak the truth know the truth get the truth out of somebody (=make them tell you the truth) the whole/complete/full truth the honest truth the plain/simple/naked truth (=the truth, with no details or explanation to make it seem pleasant) the shocking/terrible/sad etc truth the truth of the matter come close/near to the truth
the truth about
She'd come to find out the truth about her family.
the truth behind
We'll never know the truth behind the accident.
In the end she was forced to reveal the truth.
How do we know you're telling the truth?
You can't punish a man for speaking the truth.
The way he was looking at her, it was obvious he knew the truth.
I'll get the truth out of him somehow.
It was many months before the whole truth was discovered.
I love you - and that's the honest truth!
The plain truth is that you'll never get to university.
He began to realize the awful truth about her past.
The truth of the matter is that nothing has changed since the election.
Her guess came a little too close to the truth for my liking.
2

being true

[uncountable] the state or quality of being true
truth in
There was some truth in the accusations.
grain/element of truth (=small amount of truth)
There wasn't a grain of truth in what he said.
There was an element of truth (=a small amount of truth) in what he said.
There is no truth in the rumour.
3

important ideas

[countable usually plural] formal an important fact or idea that is accepted as being true:
The experience has taught us some basic truths.
an unhappy/unpleasant/unwelcome truth (=an unpleasant or disappointing fact)
It is in his interest to hide unhappy truths about his agency's performance.
4

in truth

in fact [= really]:
Early independence leaders were in truth little better than rebels.
5

if (the) truth be known/told

used when telling someone the real facts about a situation, or your real opinion:
If the truth be known, I felt a little left out at school.
6

to tell (you) the truth

spoken used when giving your personal opinion or admitting something:
To tell the truth, I was frightened to death.
7

nothing could be further from the truth

used to say that something is definitely not true
8

the truth will out

old-fashioned used to say that even if you try to stop people from knowing something, they will find out in the end
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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