hedge

[hej]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hedge ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

any barrier or boundary: a hedge of stones.

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.

to enclose with or separate by a hedge: to hedge a garden.

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.

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.

to mitigate a possible loss by counterbalancing (one's bets, investments, etc.).

to prevent or hinder free movement; obstruct: to be hedged by poverty.

verb (used without object), hedged, hedg·ing.

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.

to prevent complete loss of a bet by betting an additional amount or amounts against the original bet.

Finance. to enter transactions that will protect against loss through a compensatory price movement.

Origin of hedge

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

Related formshedge·less, adjectiveun·hedge, verb (used with object), un·hedged, un·hedg·ing.un·hedged, adjectivewell-hedged, adjective

Synonyms for hedge

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hedge ON THESAURUS.COM

9. evade, stall, delay, temporize, waffle.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hedge

shrubbery, fence, sidestep, fudge, waffle, barrier, screen, bush, guard, protection, hurdle, thicket, enclosure, quickset, hedgerow, windbreak, pussyfoot, shuffle, temporize, equivocate

Examples from the Web for hedge

Contemporary Examples of hedge

Dunham makes fun of herself only so that she can then hedge and embrace an authoritative role.
Time to Grow Up, Lena Dunham
Emily Shire
October 10, 2014
In 1998, when the hedge fund Long Term Capital Management blew up, the New York Fed helped organize a $3.65 billion bailout.
The Incredible 'Wussiness' Of The Fed Vs Goldman Sachs—Caught On Tape
Daniel Gross
September 26, 2014
“Diversification” is a hedge fund wife eschewing a Lily Pulitzer tote bag in favor of one made by Sloane Ranger or Jonathan Adler.
The Hell of the Hamptons: Why the Exclusive Hotspot Is a Mind-Numbing Drag
Robert Gold
August 18, 2014
I used to work at an elite Manhattan hedge fund that recruited almost exclusively from the Ivy League and its equivalents.
The Ivy League Provides the Best Trade Schools Around
Nick Romeo
August 17, 2014
But he is clearly focused on big picture social and political issues than he is on running money in his hedge fund.
Don’t Count Rupert Murdoch Out Yet: Why The Magnate Hasn’t Given Up on Time Warner
Daniel Gross
July 16, 2014

Historical Examples of hedge

A thrush sat in the hedge, and she was singing her morning song.
A Little Book of Profitable Tales
Eugene Field
Whose cow is that at the top of the ditch, half through my hedge?
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
They heard only a crashing of boughs, the parting of the hedge.
The Avenger
E. Phillips Oppenheim
She looked at him for a few moments, and then she threw the sally rod into the hedge.
Changing Winds
St. John G. Ervine
When the horn was sounded, he merely drew into the hedge and did not look round.
People of Position
Stanley Portal Hyatt

British Dictionary definitions for hedge

hedge

noun

a row of shrubs, bushes, or trees forming a boundary to a field, garden, etc

a barrier or protection against something

the act or a method of reducing the risk of financial loss on an investment, bet, etc

a cautious or evasive statement

(modifier; often in combination) low, inferior, or illiteratea hedge lawyer

verb

(tr) to enclose or separate with or as if with a hedge

(intr) to make or maintain a hedge, as by cutting and laying

(tr; often foll by in, about, or around) to hinder, obstruct, or restrict

(intr) to evade decision or action, esp by making noncommittal statements

(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

(intr) to protect against financial loss through future price fluctuations, as by investing in futures

Derived Formshedger, nounhedging, nounhedgy, adjective

Word Origin for hedge

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hedge

Old English hecg, originally any fence, living or artificial, from West Germanic *khagja (cf. Middle Dutch hegge, Dutch heg, Old High German hegga, German Hecke "hedge"), from PIE *kagh- "to catch, seize; wickerwork, fence" (cf. Latin caulae "a sheepfold, enclosure," Gaulish caio "circumvallation," Welsh cae "fence, hedge"). Related to Old English haga "enclosure, hedge" (see haw). Figurative sense of "boundary, barrier" is from mid-14c. Prefixed to any word, it "notes something mean, vile, of the lowest class" [Johnson], from contemptuous attributive sense of "plying one's trade under a hedge" (hedge-priest, hedge-lawyer, hedge-wench, etc.), a usage attested from 1530s.

late 14c., "make a hedge," also "surround with a barricade or palisade;" from hedge (n.). The sense of "dodge, evade" is first recorded 1590s. That of "insure oneself against loss," as in a bet, by playing something on the other side is from 1670s, originally with in; probably from an earlier use of hedge in meaning "secure (a debt) by including it in a larger one which has better security" (1610s). Related: Hedged; hedging. The noun in the wagering sense is from 1736.