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

How Wall Street sussed out that the hedge fund Situational Awareness was on the ropes.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

“Nothing about these contracts is an investment. Nothing about them is a rational hedge for a financial position. They are pure and simple gambling vehicles running through a U.S. government-regulated exchange,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

Others pointed to lengthy investing track records when launching hedge funds or venture-capital funds; Aschenbrenner’s stature stemmed from a 165-page essay in 2024, “Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead,” that foresaw the path of AI’s development.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

While investors often hedge risk by holding “long” positions that certain stocks will rise as well as “short” positions that others will fall, Situational’s longs and shorts amplified a bet on a single theme.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Lippmann spent twenty hours with one hedge fund guy and thought he had him sold, only to have the guy call his college roommate, who worked for some home builder, and change his mind.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

“Investors are still carrying downside hedges while simultaneously trying to repair underexposure to the rally,” he said in emailed commentary on Thursday.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Mortgage companies often make hedges against their portfolios of mortgages, which change in value with interest rates.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

The court previously heard Dyson had been living in his car outside Wright's cottage on Sheffield Road in Hoyland, often helping him with various jobs like cutting hedges, mending tractors and driving him to appointments.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

On the high-road there had been a gay west wind blowing in my face, making the grass on the hedges dance in unison, but here there was no wind.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

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

Many local governments now lack a clear majority for any party as voters hedged their bets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 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

I hedged, fearful of getting into a religious argument.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Family offices have interest in hedging risks related to weather or commodities such as crop outputs and oil prices, he added.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

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

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026

However, the market has now returned to a positive-gamma regime, meaning market-maker hedging flows move against the market’s direction and can help dampen volatility.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Positive dealer gamma could buffer a decline, as market makers may help cushion the decline due to hedging flows.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

He on the other hand talks little: no more hedging or jokes.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

Related Words

• fudge
• sidestep
• waffle