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Synonyms

hedging

Cultural  

  1. The practice by which a business or investor limits risk by taking positions that tend to offset each other. For example, a business stands to lose money if the price of a commodity it holds declines, but it can offset this risk by agreeing to sell a specified amount of the commodity at a set price at some point in the future.

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Hedge funds, which are investment funds usually open only to the very wealthy, grew in the 1990s. The near failure of one such fund in 1998, Long-Term Capital Management, sent shock waves through Wall Street.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Hedging refers to when investors look for ways to protect their market positions from volatile movements without selling those positions.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

But it can also become a self-reinforcing cycle: Hedging involves selling the dollar, weighing on the price.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

Hedging portfolios, and trying to profit from short-term declines, has been difficult for a long time.

From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025

Hedging like this could be smart politics, as Sawant has plenty of fans out there.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 21, 2023

Hedging the cinder trail were high, untrimmed bushes which completely screened her view.

From Whispering Walls by Wirt, Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.