hedge

American  

[hej] / hɛdʒ /

noun

• hedges
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• hedges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hedged,
  past participle,  past
• hedging
  present participle

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)

• hedges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hedged,
  past participle,  past
• hedging
  present participle

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 British  

/ 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

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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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hedger
  noun
• hedging
  noun
• unhedge
  verb (used with object)
• hedgeless
  adjective
• hedgy
  adjective
• unhedged
  adjective
• well-hedged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hedges
  plural

Participles

• hedging
  present
• hedged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• hedge
  simple
• hedges
  simple
• have hedged
  perfect
• has hedged
  perfect
• am hedging
  progressive
• are hedging
  progressive
• is hedging
  progressive
• have been hedging
  perfect progressive
• has been hedging
  perfect progressive

Past

• hedged
  simple
• had hedged
  perfect
• was hedging
  progressive
• were hedging
  progressive
• had been hedging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will hedge
  simple
• will have hedged
  perfect
• will be hedging
  progressive
• will have been hedging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of hedge

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

Explanation

A hedge is a living fence made of closely planted bushes, which, as they grow and get trimmed and shaped, form a wall of green. Hedge can also be used as a verb. If someone asks you a question and you hedge, you're avoiding a straight answer. If you're not sure what your boss's political views are, you can hedge by not revealing yours. If you hedge your bets, you're trying to minimize risk or loss — that is, you're trying to cover yourself no matter what happens.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hedge hedges hedged hedging

Because the profits on each trade are tiny, hedge funds have to leverage as much as 100 times to get worthwhile returns, creating new risks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Jane Street, the powerhouse Wall Street trading firm, lost about $15 billion in July partly due to the troubles at hedge fund Situational Awareness, according to people familiar with the matter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Pershing Square Capital Management exited its position in Hertz after the company announced an equity offering in June, the hedge fund says.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

The hedge fund manager has added Visa, Mastercard, Netflix and three other new investments to his portfolios.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

He told Eisman that his main fear was that the U.S. economy would strengthen, and dissuade hedge funds from placing bigger bets against the subprime mortgage market.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

The compound comes with a three-car garage, two ipe wood decks, several outdoor seating areas, and drought-resistant landscaping that abounds with leafy hedges and mature trees.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

They can also game financial regulations with interest-rate hedges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

UWM had taken on those hedges, Ishbia said, because of a failed acquisition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

That plate went back and forth through the hedges between our houses for years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

“Come on!” said Greyback to his men, and the prisoners were shunted through the gates and up the drive, between high hedges that muffled their footsteps.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

This year, they hedged and met her Israeli husband’s family in Greece to see how the situation in the Middle East was unfolding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

A puma named Muluk seemed sure that South Korea will triumph against the Czech Republic, and six giraffes hedged their bets with the Democratic Republic of Congo over Colombia.

From Barron's ● Jun. 6, 2026

"Most of the big airlines tell me they are well hedged so are paying last year's prices for this year's flights," he told BBC Radio Scotland's Mornings with Lucy Whyte.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

While Steyer and Xavier Becerra, the former California attorney general, both said they would support such a ban, the remaining three candidates hedged or said they would not.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026

At the same time, the nobles hedged their bets.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

You can already see some hedging in what he’s been saying about the race.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

When the S&P 500 rises, these hedging flows can suppress further gains as market makers become sellers.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Jet fuel prices dropped in June, allowing the airline to increase its hedging position.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Gamma measures how quickly an option’s delta changes as the underlying index moves, while net dealer gamma estimates how market makers’ exposure to the contracts they have sold, or bought, may influence their hedging activity.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

It’s that their hedging is a choice, not a tic.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• fudge
• sidestep
• waffle