hedge

[ hej ]

noun

1. a row of bushes or small trees planted close together, especially when forming a fence or boundary; hedgerow:

   small fields separated by hedges.

2. any barrier or boundary:

   a hedge of stones.

3. an act or means of preventing complete loss of a bet, an argument, an investment, or the like, with a partially counterbalancing or qualifying one.

verb (used with object)

, hedged, hedg·ing.

1. to enclose with or separate by a hedge:

   to hedge a garden.

2. to surround and confine as if with a hedge; restrict (often followed by in, about, etc.):

   He felt hedged in by the rules of language.

3. to protect with qualifications that allow for unstated contingencies or for withdrawal from commitment:

   He hedged his program against attack and then presented it to the board.

4. to mitigate a possible loss by counterbalancing (one's bets, investments, etc.).
5. to prevent or hinder free movement; obstruct:

   to be hedged by poverty.

verb (used without object)

, hedged, hedg·ing.

1. to avoid a rigid commitment by qualifying or modifying a position so as to permit withdrawal:

   He felt that he was speaking too boldly and began to hedge before they could contradict him.

   Synonyms: waffle, temporize, delay, stall, evade

2. to prevent complete loss of a bet by betting an additional amount or amounts against the original bet.
3. Finance. to enter transactions that will protect against loss through a compensatory price movement.

hedge

/ hɛdʒ /

noun

1. a row of shrubs, bushes, or trees forming a boundary to a field, garden, etc
2. a barrier or protection against something
3. the act or a method of reducing the risk of financial loss on an investment, bet, etc
4. a cautious or evasive statement
5. modifier; often in combination low, inferior, or illiterate

   a hedge lawyer

verb

1. tr to enclose or separate with or as if with a hedge
2. intr to make or maintain a hedge, as by cutting and laying
3. tr; often foll by in, about, or around to hinder, obstruct, or restrict
4. intr to evade decision or action, esp by making noncommittal statements
5. tr to guard against the risk of loss in (a bet, the paying out of a win, etc), esp by laying bets with other bookmakers
6. intr to protect against financial loss through future price fluctuations, as by investing in futures

Derived Forms

• ˈhedgy, adjective
• ˈhedging, noun
• ˈhedger, noun

Other Words From

• hedgeless adjective
• un·hedge verb (used with object) unhedged unhedging
• un·hedged adjective
• well-hedged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hedge¹

before 900; Middle English, Old English hegge; cognate with Dutch heg, German Hecke hedge, Old Norse heggr bird cherry

Word History and Origins

Origin of hedge¹

Old English hecg; related to Old High German heckia, Middle Dutch hegge; see haw ¹

Example Sentences

In 2018, Citi was targeted by ValueAct, an activist hedge fund that has pushed for shakeups at other companies.

From Quartz

In January 2019, he formally set up a hedge fund called Next Alpha, which today, he says, has about $30 million under management.

From Fortune

This has nurtured a renaissance for many macro hedge funds, with some notching up gains not seen since their 1990s heyday.

From Ozy

The average global macro fund is flat this year, according to data from Aurum Fund Management, a firm that invests in hedge funds.

From Ozy

The hedge fund publishes reports on companies that it says has misled investors, while making a bet on the stock price falling.

From Quartz

All the money from cuts to public education can go toward more tax breaks for hedge-fund types.

From The Daily Beast

Third, the destruction: These hedge-fund managers want to eliminate all limits and oversight of charter schools.

From The Daily Beast

The center-right hedge fund clique known as Third Way, and associated Blue Dogs and hangers on.

From The Daily Beast

Dunham makes fun of herself only so that she can then hedge and embrace an authoritative role.

From The Daily Beast

In 1998, when the hedge fund Long Term Capital Management blew up, the New York Fed helped organize a $3.65 billion bailout.

From The Daily Beast

Where there is no hedge, the possession shall be spoiled: and where there is no wife, he mourneth that is in want.

From Project Gutenberg

I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted: I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.

From Project Gutenberg

We cut over the fields at the back with him between usstraight as the crow fliesthrough hedge and ditch.

From Project Gutenberg

Into the houses, and behind every garden fence and hedge, the retreating Federals gathered.

From Project Gutenberg

They crashed against Sir Edward Bruce's division, which received them 'like a dense hedge' or 'wood.'

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• fence
• shrubbery