hedgen.
/hɛdʒ/, U.S. /hɛdʒ/ 1.
a. A row of bushes or low trees (e.g. hawthorn, or privet) planted closely to form a boundary between pieces of land or at the sides of a road: the usual form of fence in England.A hedge is called quickset or dead according as it is planted of living or dead plants. (See these adjectives.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence > a hedge
hedge785
hedge-fence1662
weir1789
785 Charter in Cart. Sax. (Birch) I. 339 Æt þære lange hegge ænde.
855 Anglo-Saxon Chron. ann. 547 He getimbrade Bebban burh, sy wæs ærost mid hegge be tined.
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 17 Þe nihtegale..sat up one faire boȝe..In ore waste þicke hegge.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 211 Hii come among narwe heggys.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16428 Any leues or rotes seþ, Þat henged on heg or on heþ.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Eccles. x. 8 Who scatereth the hegg [a1425 L.V. hegge].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Mark xii. 1 A man plauntide a vyneȝerd, and puttide aboute an hegge.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 232/1 Hedge (K., S. hegge), sepes.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 70 The serpent stode in an hedche.
1483 Cath. Angl. 180/1 Hege, ubi a garthe.
1508 W. Dunbar Goldyn Targe (Chepman & Myllar) in Poems (1998) I. 185 On every syde the hegies raise on hicht.
a1513 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen in Poems (1998) I. 41 That in haist to the hege so hard I inthrang.
1550 R. Crowley One & Thyrtye Epigrammes sig. Biiv Two beggars that vnder an hedge sate.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 59 The commyns..within the realme ryssyd and pullyd up heggys and palys.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 50v Columella..preferreth the quickeset Hedge before the dead.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 62 But turn out of the way..towards yonder high hedg . View more context for this quotation
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth V. 144 To take shelter in the first tree or hedge that offers.
1806 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 73 Hedge and ditch is the most common mode of fencing property.
1826–44 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Agric. 475 Dead hedges..are principally intended for temporary purposes.
b. Locally or spec. applied to other fences.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence > a fence
rowa1225
fence1512
fensure1552
hedge1850
1850 Beck's Florist 25 If we examine the stone walls, or, as they are called, ‘hedges’.
1868 J. F. Kirk Hist. Charles the Bold III. v. iii. 428 The Burgundians erected a palisade, called in the military language of the time a ‘hedge’.
1887 H. Caine Deemster II. xvi. 11 One..had jumped to the top of the broad turf hedge.
2. A fishing weir of faggots or of wattle-work.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > fish-trap > [noun] > weir
heck1424
weir-heckc1467
ebbing-weir1472
strite1537
ebbing-lock1539
stell yair1600
hedge1653
weir house1791
the Queen's share?1795
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler vi. 135 They [salmon] will force themselves over the tops of Weirs, or Hedges, or stops in the water. View more context for this quotation
1714 Act 1 Geo. I Stat. ii. c. 18 §14 If any person..make, erect, or set any bank, dam, hedge or stank, net or nets, cross the said rivers or any part thereof.
3. transferred. Said of any line or array of objects forming a barrier, boundary, or partition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun]
bar1388
traverse1477
hedge1523
barrier1570
barricadoa1616
barricade1714
barbed wire1890
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxxx. 157 The frenche kynge wolde fayne haue come thyder..but there was a great hedge [Fr. grand'haye] of archers before hym.
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 10 A [Processe]..which..into the nostrels discendyng, constituteth the hedge, or partition of the nose.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 95 These three Countries being an hedge betweene the English Pale, and the North.
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 183 Towring in a hedge of hills from Armenia to the furthest part of Indya.
1808 W. Scott Marmion vi. xviii. 344 Flashing on the hedge of spears The eastern sun-beam shines.
1855 H. Martineau Autobiogr. (1877) II. 121 Hedges of police from our little street to the gates of the Abbey.
4. transferred and figurative. A barrier, limit, defence; a means of protection or defence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > [noun] > means of protection or defence
hornc825
shieldc1200
warranta1272
bergha1325
armour1340
hedge1340
defencec1350
bucklerc1380
protectiona1382
safety1399
targea1400
suretyc1405
wall1412
pavise?a1439
fencec1440
safeguard?c1500
pale?a1525
waretack1542
muniment1546
shrouda1561
bulwark1577
countermure1581
ward1582
prevention1584
armourya1586
fortificationa1586
securitya1586
penthouse1589
palladium1600
guard1609
subtectacle1609
tutament1609
umbrella1609
bastion1615
screena1616
amulet1621
alexikakon1635
breastwork1643
security1643
protectionary1653
sepiment1660
back1680
shadower1691
aegis1760
inoculation1761
buoya1770
propugnaculum1773
panoply1789
armament1793
fascine1793
protective1827
beaver1838
face shield1842
vaccine1861
zariba1885
wolf-platform1906
firebreak1959
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 240 Hardnesse of liue þet is a strang heg aye þe wyckede bestes.
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. III. 29 Þus was Poul constreyned to crepe out of his hegge, and holde þe sect of Crist, forsakinge þe sect of Pharisees.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Riiiiv As hedges or stoppes to lette those thynges that myght hurt perfection.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 72 It might appeare by that hedge which he diligently put to all his answers, that he spake..only to cleere himselfe.
1649 Belfast Presbytery in Milton's Wks. (1851) II. 550 Their strong oppositions to Presbyterial Government (the Hedg and Bulwark of Religion).
1825 W. Scott Jrnl. 19 Dec. (1939) 50 He talks of..making sales of our interest..which would put a hedge round his finances.
1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. ii. viii. 148 The Pharisees regarded it as the main function of their existence to raise a hedge around the Law.
5. spec. Betting. [ < hedge v. 8] The act of hedging; a means of hedging. Also Commercial, Financial, and transferred (cf. hedge v. 8c).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > security > [noun] > guaranteeing or pledging
again-behotinga1382
warrantisec1440
warrantisingc1450
acquitc1460
pledging1538
guaranty1592
oppignoration1592
hedginga1631
stipulation1648
warrantship1702
hedge1736
guarantee1786
1736 H. Fielding Pasquin iii. 36 S. That's laying against your self, Mr. Trapwit. T. I love a Hedge, sir.
1801 Sporting Mag. 18 100 To make a hedge; to secure a bet, or wager, laid on one side, by taking the odds on the other.
1805 W. Windham Speeches Parl. 26 Mar. (1812) II. 298 What, in the sporting language was called ‘a hedge’, the effect of which was, that there was a chance the Right Honourable Gentleman would at all events win.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. viii. 200 The horse is no use to you. He won't win, but I want him as a hedge.
1917 A. W. Atwood Exchanges & Speculation xiv. 196 The local elevator companies..place their hedges as soon as they begin to accumulate supplies of grain.
1955 Times 8 June 9/2 Your board are keenly aware of the need that the group should continue to build up, in the form of profitable interests elsewhere, ‘hedges’ against catastrophe in British Guiana.
1955 Times 29 June 11/3 As for the hedge of going into television itself that may save the property but it will not save the Press.
1957 Economist 12 Oct. 152/2 In France, wool was probably taken into stock as a hedge against currency devaluation and the pressure of credit restriction is also at work there.
1958 Punch 19 Nov. 669/2 A good unit trust group..provides the best way of combining the safety of numbers with the promise of participating in the economic growth that lies before us and of providing a hedge against inflation.
1959 Punch 19 Aug. 54/2 The share of these companies would seem to be a perfect election hedge.
Phrases
P1. to hang (also be hung) on (in) the hedge: to be put on one side, to be ‘on the shelf’. to be on the right (also better, safer) or wrong side of the hedge: to be in a right or wrong position. to take a sheet off a hedge: to steal openly. to take hedge: to depart. the only stick left in one's hedge: one's only resource. by hedge or by stile (see quot. 1699). to be on the hedge: = to ‘sit on the fence’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > carelessness > be careless or negligent [verb (intransitive)] > be or remain neglected
to hang (also be hung) on (in) the hedge?1515
to stand by1648
?1515 Hyckescorner (de Worde) sig. B.ii Ye whan my soule hangeth on the hedge cast stones.
1600 P. Holland tr. Florus Breviaries lxix, in tr. Livy Rom. Hist. 1246 One who ever loved to be on the better side of the hedge [L. secundam fortunam transire].
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 27 He durst as well take a sheet of an hedge, as come within the cracke of a pistoll.
1639 J. Ford Ladies Triall iv. sig. H4 They durst not give the souze And so tooke hedge.
a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 64 That much talked of, and employed distinction..of implicite, and explicite, faith..may be hanged on the hedge, for any use is of it.
1644 J. Vicars Jehovah-Jireh 196 Those two Regiments were the onely stick they now had left in their hedge.
1653 R. Baxter Worcester-shire Petition 24 If you say, We have too much in any of these particulars; then we are on the safer side the hedge.
1666 S. Pepys Diary 27 Oct. (1972) VII. 343 The business of money hangs in the hedge.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew By Hedge or by Style, by Hook or by Crook.
1816 Abridgem. Ainsworth's Dict. (at cited word) To be on the wrong side of the hedge, or mistaken, hallucinor, erro.
P2. Other locutions of obvious meaning.
ΚΠ
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. v. sig. Hiiv Where the hedge is lowest, men maie soonest ouer.
1563 N. Winȝet Wks. (1888) II. 54 The serpent sal byte him quha cuttis the haige.
1591 J. Lyly Endimion iii. iii. sig. E2v Some man may better steale a horse, then another looke ouer the hedge.
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 203 Men are still apt to climb over the hedg where it is lowest.
1869 W. C. Hazlitt Eng. Prov. & Phr. 201 Hedges have eyes and walls have ears.
1892 Daily News 4 July 3/1 The fog..hanging like a heavy pall ‘as thick as a hedge’.
Compounds
C1.
a. Simple attributive, ‘of or for a hedge’.
hedge-bottom n.
ΚΠ
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. xxxvi. 315 Hares..hide themselues in hedge bottomes, or in woods.
1816 Ainsworth's Lat. Dict. (at cited word) She lays her eggs in hedge bottoms.
hedge-corner n.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. i. 2 He can come no other way but by this hedge corner.
hedge-cricket n.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats To Autumn iii, in Lamia & Other Poems 139 Hedge-crickets sing.
hedge-fence n.
hedge-flower n.
ΚΠ
1767 W. Harte Amaranth 187 Deck'd..With poor hedge-flow'rs.
hedge-fruit n.
ΚΠ
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. xv. 27) Those that are hunger-starved are glad to feed upon hedge-fruit.
hedge-knife n.
ΚΠ
1846 J. E. Worcester Universal Dict. Eng. Lang. Hedge-knife, an instrument for trimming hedges.
hedge-plant n.
ΚΠ
1758 W. Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornwall 229 Hill and hedge plants.
1887 Gardening 10 Dec. 553/2 Laurustinus is used here largely as a hedge plant.
hedge-scissors n.
hedge-shears n.
ΚΠ
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 44 [Pruning instruments] resembling common hedge-shears.
hedge spade n.
hedge-stake n.
ΚΠ
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus i. ii. 326 They haue some of them beene the old hedgstakes of the presse.
1843 Zoologist 1 97 I generally have a stout hedge-stake or clothes-prop to try the soundings with.
hedge-tree n.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Marmaux, Arbres mar. Hedge-trees, wild trees.
hedge-weed n.
ΚΠ
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm (1871) II. 473 A small useful implement is the hedge weed-hook..which pulls out the weeds between the hedge-roots.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1064/1 Sisymbrium officinale..a common hedge-weed.
hedge-wren n.
ΚΠ
1899 Westm. Gaz. 21 July 2/3 The swallow does not fear us, the hedge-wren does not flout us.
1907 Academy 9 Feb. 131/2 The hedge-wren..Is out in the open.
b. Objective and objective genitive.
hedge-breaker n.
ΚΠ
1631 in S. R. Gardiner Rep. Cases Star Chamber & High Comm. (1886) 62 As hedge-breakers or breakers of the peace they put them in the stockes.
hedge-breaking n.
ΚΠ
1785 J. Phillips Treat. Inland Navigation 19 Poor people who now destroy all the hedges..will find hedge-breaking a losing trade.
hedge-clipper n.
hedge-clipping n.
ΚΠ
1871 W. H. Beever Daily Life Farm i. 6 Heaps of fire-wood and hedge-clippings.
hedge-cutter n.
ΚΠ
1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 234/1 A new instrument for clipping hedges, Ridgway's hedge-cutter.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 2 Feb. 80/1 There was a record entry of nearly 100 mechanical hedge-cutters.
1971 P. Gresswell Environment 125 The mechanical hedge~cutter clears the young saplings.
hedge-cutting n.
ΚΠ
1899 Westm. Gaz. 22 Dec. 1/3 Hedge-cutting competitions have a..useful effect in checking the use of barbed wire.
hedge-maker n.
ΚΠ
14.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 697/21 Hic septor, a hegmaker.
hedge-walker n.
ΚΠ
1591 F. Sparry tr. C. de Cattan Geomancie 73 A number of thieves and hedge walkers.
c. Instrumental.
hedge-bound adj.
C2.
a. Born, brought up, habitually sleeping, sheltering, or plying their trade under hedges, or by the road-side (and hence used generally as an attribute expressing contempt), as hedge-bantling, hedge-brat, hedge-chaplain, hedge-curate, hedge-doctor, hedge-lawyer, hedge-parson, hedge-player, hedge-poet, hedge-wench, hedge-whore, etc. Also hedge-priest n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting a type of place > [adjective] > dwelling under hedges or by roadside
hedgec1530
c1530 Jyl of Breyntford's Test. 331 A hedge Curat, with as moche wit as a calf.
1551 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 2nd Pt. f. lxvijv They..contynued vndre the slendre name of secular prestes or hedge chaplaines.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 75 A runnagat hedgebrat.
1590 R. Wilson Three Lordes & Three Ladies London sig. D3v This blindfold buzzardly hedge-wench.
1652 R. Brome Joviall Crew v. sig. M4 Hedge-birds said you? Hedge Lady-birds, Hedge Cavaliers, Hedge Souldier, Hedge Lawyer, Hedge Fidlers, Hedge Poet, Hedge Players, and a Hedge Priest among 'em.
1656 tr. J. A. Comenius Latinæ Linguæ Janua Reserata: Gate Lat. Tongue Unlocked lxxxvi. §804 Hee doth not rashly venture upon the cure, (as Quacksalvers, and Hedg-doctors, are wont).
1711 J. Swift Remarks upon Let. to 7 Lds. 20 These Hedge-Writers (a Phrase I unwillingly lend him, because it cost me some Pains to invent) seldom speak a Word against any of the late Mi——y.
1738 R. Thyer Let. 11 Mar. in Private Jrnl. & Lit. Remains (1856) II. i. 198 I find your curiosity tempted into a hedge bookseller's in some bye-lane.
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle IV. xcv. 23 This hedge-inamorata.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 162 She ran out into such a horrid description of a hedge-ruffian.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel II. vi. 134 A hedge-parson, or buckle-beggar, as that order of priesthood has been irreverently termed.
1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. xv. 183 Not hedge-lawyers, as Captain Lennox used to call those men in his company who questioned and would know the reason for every order.
b. Done, performed, produced, worked, under a hedge, in byways, or clandestinely, as hedge-marriage, hedge-notes, hedge-press, hedge-rhymes.
ΚΠ
a1667 A. Cowley Answer Verses from Jersey 13 Such Base, Rough, Crabbed, Hedge-Rhimes, as ev'n set the Hearers Ears on Edge.
1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires p. xxiii When they began to be somewhat better bred..they left these Hedge Notes, for another sort of Poem, somewhat polish'd.
1720 J. Swift Proposal Use Irish Manuf. 12 Corrector of a Hedge-Press in some Blind-Alley about Little-Britain.
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Hedge-marriage, a secret clandestine marriage. North.
c. Of such kind as is met with by the way-side; of mean, inferior, ‘common’, ‘third-rate’ quality, and generally as a contemptuous adjunct, as hedge-alehouse, hedge-inn, hedge-lodging, hedge-tavern, hedge-wine, etc. Also hedge-school n.
ΚΠ
1594 T. Nashe Terrors of Night in Wks. (1883–4) III. 267 Hedge wine and leane mutton.
1688 T. Shadwell Squire of Alsatia i. i. 1 Is not rich generous Wine better than your poor Hedg-Wine stum'd or dull March-Beer?
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Hedge-Tavern or Ale-house, a Jilting, Sharping Tavern, or Blind Alehouse.
1711 J. Swift Lett. (1767) III. 203 I was forced to go to a little hedge place for my dinner.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. vii. 51 A small hedge ale-house.
1816 W. Scott Let. 26 Aug. (1933) IV. 270 Otterbourne..is an indifferent sort of hedge inn.
d. Hence passing into an adj. with sense ‘Mean, third-rate, paltry, despicable, rascally’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > paltry, mean, or contemptible
unworthlyc1230
wretcha1250
seely1297
vilec1320
not worth a cress (kerse)1377
the value of a rushc1380
threadbarec1412
wretched1450
miserable?a1513
rascal1519
prettya1522
not worth a whistlea1529
pegrall1535
plack1539
pelting1540
scald1542
sleeveless1551
baggage1553
paltering1553
piddling1559
twopenny1560
paltry1565
rubbish1565
baggagely1573
pelfish1577
halfpenny1579
palting1579
baubling1581
three-halfpenny1581
pitiful1582
triobolar1585
squirting1589
not worth a lousea1592
hedge1596
cheap1597
peddling1597
dribbling1600
mean1600
rascally1600
three-farthingc1600
draughty1602
dilute1605
copper1609
peltry?a1610
threepenny1613
pelsy1631
pimping1640
triobolary1644
pigwidgeon1647
dustya1649
fiddling1652
puddlinga1653
insignificant1658
piteous1667
snotty1681
scrubbed1688
dishonourable1699
scrub1711
footy1720
fouty1722
rubbishing1731
chuck-farthing1748
rubbishy1753
shabby1753
scrubby1754
poxya1758
rubbishly1777
waff-like1808
trinkety1817
meanish1831
one-eyed1843
twiddling1844
measly1847
poking1850
picayunish1852
vild1853
picayune1856
snide1859
two-cent1859
rummagy1872
faddling1883
finicking1886
slushy1889
twopence halfpenny1890
jerk1893
pissy1922
crappy1928
two-bit1932
piddly1933
chickenshit1934
pissing1937
penny packet1943
farkakte1960
pony1964
gay1978
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. Ev Rascally hedge rak't vp termes.
1732 J. Swift Consideration Two Bills in H. Davis Prose Wks. XII. 195 The clergy do much better than a little hedge, contemptible, illiterate vicar can be presumed to do.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. viii. §78 643 These are hedge Objections. When nothing can be said against the Matter, they fall upon the Manner, and in Circumstances not material.
C3. Also hedge-bill n., etc.† hedge-binding n. Obsolete something used to bind together the bushes composing a hedge.† hedge-frog n. Obsolete a toad.
hedge-accentor n. the hedge sparrow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Prunellidae (accentor) > prunella modularis (hedge-sparrow)
haysuggec1000
pinnockc1275
suggec1440
dunnock1483
Philipa1500
hedge sparrow1530
titlingc1550
dikesmowler1611
hedge-chat1821
hedge-accentora1825
shuffle-wing1829
chanter1831
Isaac1834
dicky1877
smoky1889
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Hedge-accentor, the hedge-sparrow.
ΚΠ
1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle ii. sig. E2v Hee came and basted me with a hedge binding.
hedge-born adj. born under a hedge, of low or mean birth.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iv. i. 43 Like a Hedge-borne Swaine, That doth presume to boast of Gentle blood. View more context for this quotation
hedge-brow n. (see quot. 1750).
ΚΠ
1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman III. i. 37 (E.D.S.) Where bushes, or other trumpery, that grew near hedges, have been grubbed up, which we call hedge-brows.
hedge-bush n. a bush used to make a hedge, spec. hawthorn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorny berry-bush > [noun] > hawthorn and allies
hawthorna700
hawthorn-treec1290
whitethorna1300
haw-treec1325
albespyne?a1425
thorn-tree1483
mespilus1548
may-branch1560
quickthorn1571
hedge-bush1576
busket1579
May-bush1579
Neapolitan medlar1597
azarole1658
pyracanth1664
white bush1676
Glastonbury thorna1697
quick1727
evergreen thorn1731
blackthorn1737
whitethorn1788
oriental medlar1797
haw1821
May-haw1840
Maythorn1844
May1848
pear thorn1848
pink thorn1852
aronia thorn1882
scarlet thorn1882
black haw1897
1576 A. Fleming tr. Erasmus in Panoplie Epist. 351 The pricking Blackthorne, the hedge bushe, the Bryer, the bramble.
1859 W. S. Coleman Our Woodlands 38 The Maple, from its valuable qualities as a hedge-bush.
hedge-carpenter n. one whose business is to repair fences.
ΚΠ
1883 T. Hardy Three Strangers in Longman's Mag. Mar. 579 ‘You may generally tell what a man is by his claws’, observed the hedge-carpenter, looking at his hands.
hedge-carpentering n.
ΚΠ
1878 R. Jefferies Gamekeeper at Home iii. 55 Hedge-carpentering was..a distinct business, followed by one or two men in every locality.
hedge-chafer n. the cockchafer.
ΚΠ
1826 T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds (ed. 6) I. 86 Rooks are fond of the erucæ of the hedge-chafer.
hedge-chat n. the hedge sparrow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Prunellidae (accentor) > prunella modularis (hedge-sparrow)
haysuggec1000
pinnockc1275
suggec1440
dunnock1483
Philipa1500
hedge sparrow1530
titlingc1550
dikesmowler1611
hedge-chat1821
hedge-accentora1825
shuffle-wing1829
chanter1831
Isaac1834
dicky1877
smoky1889
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 91 No music's heard the fields among; Save where the hedge-chats chittering play.
hedge-clause n. U.S. a safeguarding clause in a contract.
ΚΠ
1928 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 10 Mar. 185/2 In the Wall Street language..hedge clauses..signify that if the representations turn out to be wrong the banker shall not be held accountable.
hedge-crocus n. an itinerant quack-doctor: see crocus n. 4.
ΚΠ
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 423/2 Hedge crocusses—men who sell corn salve, or ‘four pills a penny’, to cure anything, and go from house to house in the country.
hedge-fence n. a hedge serving as a fence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence > a hedge
hedge785
hedge-fence1662
weir1789
1662 in A. Perry & C. S. Brigham Early Rec. Portsmouth (Rhode Island) (1901) 396 The said fence..provided that it be a hedge fence.
1778 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1916) LII. 13 Seeing this hedge fence, they might take it to be a breastwork thrown up to annoy them.
1826–44 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Agric. 475 Hedge fences are of two kinds: either..of dead materials, or..of living plants.
hedge-fight n. a fight under cover of hedges or other shelters, as opposed to a pitched battle.
ΚΠ
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 226 It was a kind of a Hedge Fight, for neither Army was drawn out in the Field..They fought twice through the Town..and in the Hedges and Lanes, with exceeding Fury.
hedge-fire n. firing from a hedge.
ΚΠ
1859 J. E. Tennent Ceylon II. viii. v. 372 A hedge-fire of musketry was kept up in the rear of the terrified elephants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > amphibians > order Anura or Salienta (frogs and toads) > [noun] > toad
pad?a1160
frouda1200
podea1325
boterel1340
paddocka1425
frog1440
paddoc1480
crapaud1481
gangrel?a1513
hedge-frog1580
frog-paddock1651
hop-toad1827
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Vn verdier..a kinde of tode or hedge frogge.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 450 The hedge frog, otherwise called a toad.
hedge-green n. the green headland in a ploughed field.
ΚΠ
1732 W. Ellis Pract. Farmer 161 Baulks of Grass, are those which some call Hedge-Greens; they lie next to the Hedges in ploughed Fields, and serve to turn the Plough-Horses on.
hedge-grown adj. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Fancy in Lamia & Other Poems 124 The first Hedge-grown primrose that hath burst.
1900 Daily Express 3 Aug. 2/7 Barley is not so good this year, for it has come up irregularly..; barley of this character is known with us as a ‘hedge-grown crop’.
hedge-hook n. a bill-hook for trimming hedges.
ΚΠ
1890 Sale Catal. Suffield House near Derby Hedge hook and mittens.
hedge-hop v. colloquial to fly in an aircraft at low levels so as to suggest hopping over hedges.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > fly (in) an aircraft [verb (intransitive)] > at very low level
hedge-hop1926
wave-hop1943
1926 National Geographic Mag. Jan. 18/2 Back he'd go ‘upstairs’ under a 200-foot ceiling, and hedge-hop along 20 miles or so, to the next emergency field.
1928 Daily Express 21 May 10/3 They can ‘hedge-hop’ with skill or fly to the greater heights with as much impunity as a man pilot.
1940 ‘Gun Buster’ Return via Dunkirk ii. xi. 171 A German plane hedge-hopped right over us.
1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File vii. 49 The machine [sc. a helicopter]..hedge-hopped in 100 m.p.h. gallops towards the sea.
hedge-hopper n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > [noun] > low-flying aircraft
low-flyer1808
grass cutter1911
hedge-hopper1940
wave-hopper1957
1940 H. E. Baughman Aviation Dict. 96/1 Hedge-hopper airplane (slang), any small, under-powered plane with enough power and lift to get off the ground a few feet for a brief period of time.
1957 R. W. Zandvoort et al. Wartime Eng. 127 Hedge-hopper, a low-flying aircraft.
hedge-hopping adj. also figurative
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > [noun] > close to the ground
low-flying1600
contour-chasinga1918
hedge-hopping1919
1919 R. H. Reece Night Bombing with Bedouins 23 The British sport of ‘hedge-hopping’, i.e., flying close to the ground and ‘zooming’ up over trees.
1939 War Illustr. 11 Nov. 286 The German pilot's story of his eventful pursuit of a hedge-hopping English 'plane.
1955 Amer. Speech 30 72 Hedge-hopping..took on a special meaning in the 1952 presidential campaign—using an airplane in political campaigning.
1957 L. Durrell Bitter Lemons 100 My own ambitions were more hedge-hopping and my means forbade me to indulge in such delightful fantasies.
hedge-planter n. ‘a frame for holding plants in order as to distance and position while being set in the furrow prepared for them’ (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 1875).
hedge-popping n. shooting from behind a hedge.
ΚΠ
1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports (ed. 12) i. i. i. §5. 8 Some hedge-popping boy is made to bear the blame.
hedge-pulling n. the pulling of firewood out of a hedge.
ΚΠ
1887 C. J. Ribton-Turner Vagrants & Vagrancy 205 Six women were in the year 1800 stripped to the waist and flogged..for ‘hedge pulling’ under the Acts of 1766 and 1768.
hedge-rise n. (see quot. 1828).
ΚΠ
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Hedge-rise, underwood for making hedges.
hedge-rustic n. the moth Luperina Cespitis.
ΚΠ
1862 E. Newman Illustr. Nat. Hist. Brit. Moths (1874) 297 The Hedge Rustic..appears on the wing in August.
hedge selling n. (see sense 5 and hedge v. 8c).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > specific operations or arrangements > share-selling activities
share pushing1896
hedge selling1920
placing1922
sell-off1937
1920 J. Stephenson Princ. & Pract. Commerc. Corr. ii. xiii. 151 Further liquidation and some hedge selling caused another decline.
1930 Daily Express 8 Sept. 2/7 A reaction occurred owing to liquidation, hedge selling, a bearish crop estimate.
1964 Financial Times 12 Mar. 2/7 Selling was stop loss, together with some hedge selling.
hedge-shrew n. (perhaps) the shrew-mouse.
ΚΠ
1841 R. Browning Pippa Passes iv, in Bells & Pomegranates No. I 15/1 But winter hastens at summer's end, And fire-fly, hedge-shrew, lob-worm, pray, Where be they?
hedge trimmer n. (see trimmer n. 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > hedging > [noun] > hedging implements
hedge-bill1497
hedging-bill1497
staff-hook?1523
plashing-bill?a1549
plashing-tool?a1549
hack-hook1771
rice knife1858
splasher1868
hedge trimmer1871
splashing-bill1899
1871 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1869–70 8 18 For want of opportunity there had been no test made of the Hedge Trimmer, entered by D. Oliver, of Galesburg, Ill.
1961 Times 26 May 16/7 Hedge-trimmers and verge-cutters are a common part of the roadside scene.
hedge trimming n. (a) (see trimming n. 1b); (b) (see trimming n. 1c).
ΚΠ
1859 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1857–8 3 362 I believe that the men are..here present, who will live to see..hedge trimming &c., done by steam.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 12 Jan. 63/2 Disposing of hedge-trimmings.
hedge-warbler n. the hedge sparrow.
ΚΠ
1826 T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds (ed. 6) I. 244 (heading) Hedge Warbler. Hedge Sparrow.
hedge-wise adv. in the fashion of a hedge.
ΚΠ
1727 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Oeconomique (Dublin ed.) at Garden fences Rather to be handprun'd with a Knife than clipt or struck up Hedgewise with a Hook.
C4. In names of plants and fruits growing in hedges.
a.
hedge-apple n.
ΚΠ
1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas Hedge-apple..Vi[de] Crab, or Arbut.
hedge-mallow n.
ΚΠ
1836 Penny Cycl. V. 251 The common hedge mallow.
hedge-nut n.
ΚΠ
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vii. 127 The common Hedge, or Hasell~nut.
hedge-pear n.
ΚΠ
1609 Sir R. Shirley in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 95 Their victuals..are acorns and hedge-pears.
hedge-rose n.
ΚΠ
1875 Ld. Tennyson Queen Mary iii. vi. 169 Like the wild hedge-rose Of a soft winter, possible, not probable.
b. † hedge fumitory n. Obsolete Corydalis claviculata.
hedge-bedstraw n. the white-flowered species, Galium Mollugo.
hedge-bell n. (also hedge-bells)
ΚΠ
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 714 In English Bindeweede, and Hedge Bels.
hedge-bindweed n. the Greater Bindweed, Convolvulus (or Calystegia) sepium; also used of the Field Bindweed, C. arvensis.
hedge-cactus n. U.S. a cactus ( Cereus peruvianus) grown as a hedge-plant.
ΚΠ
1883 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds (new ed.) xxxvi. 593 There is..the hedge cactus, with which Mexicans fence their fields.
ΚΠ
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xv. 24 Henfoote or hedge Fumeterre..is of the same nature and vertue as the other Fumeterre.
hedge-garlic n. Sisymbrium Alliaria ( Alliaria officinalis), also called garlic mustard, a common cruciferous weed with an odour like garlic.
Categories »
hedge-laurel n. name of various species of Pittosporum, a genus of shrubs or small trees found in Australia and New Zealand.
Categories »
hedge-maids n. a local name of Ground Ivy: = haymaids n. at hay n.2 Compounds.
hedge maple n. Acer campestre.
ΚΠ
1906 Westm. Gaz. 13 Nov. 12/2 Every lane is aflame with hedge-maples.
hedge-mushroom n. Agaricus arvensis.
hedge-mustard n. the cruciferous plant Sisymbrium officinale, a common weed with small yellow flowers; also applied to plants of the genus Erysimum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > hedge-mustard
bank cress1562
wild rocket1578
hedge-mustard1671
1671 W. Salmon Synopsis Medicinæ iii. xxii. 399 Hedge Mustard..opens the Lungs, and cures an old cough.
hedge-nettle n. name for labiate plants of the genus Stachys, esp. S. sylvatica, also called hedge woundwort.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > labiate plant or plants > [noun] > stachys or hedge nettle
strait horehound1548
clown's all-heal1597
hedge-nettle1678
stachys1682
swine's arnit1735
clown's wound-wort1825
mouse-ear1882
saviour's blanket1882
rabbit ears1928
1678 A. Littleton Linguæ Latinæ Liber Dictionarius Hedge-nettle, Galeopsis.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. iv. 48 Strong-smelling and stinking, as hedge nettle.
1869 J. G. Fuller Uncle John's Flower-gatherers 277 There are several other species of the Hedge-nettle, some of them without hairs.
hedge parsley n. common name of the genus Torilis, esp. T. Anthriscus, an umbelliferous weed with finely-divided leaves; also applied to various species of Caucalis or bastard parsley.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > bur-parsley
bastard parsley1548
hen's foot1597
hedge parsley1633
bur-parsley1865
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > hedge-parsley
rough chervil1785
hedge parsley1830
sheep's parsley1896
1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) ii. 1022 Caucalis minor flosculis rubentibus..I haue thought good to call Hedge, or field Parsley.
1683 W. Salmon Doron Medicum i. 7 Hedge, or Bastard Parsly.
1830 Withering's Brit. Plants (1845) 143 Torilis anthriscus, Upright Hedge-parsley.
1889 R. Jefferies Field & Hedgerow 159 The broad hedge-parsley leaves, tunnelled by leaf-miners.
hedge-peak n. (also hedge-pick) = hedge-speak n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorn-tree or -bush > brier or wild rose-bush > [noun] > part of > hip
hipeOE
shoop1483
pear1576
hedge-peak1630
choop1820
rose berry1822
rose hip1833
hedge-speak1847
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > plum > sloe
sloec725
blackberry1567
cat-sloe1578
snag1578
hedge-peak1630
bull-plum1770
hedge-speak1847
winterpick1859
egg-peg1878
1630 J. Taylor Praise, Antiqvitie, & Commoditie of Beggerie in Wks. 97 The Bullesse, hedg-Peake, Hips, & Hawes, and, Sloes, Attend his appetite where e'er he goes.
1678 E. Howard Man of Newmarket ii. 16 I judge it is with men as it is with Plants: take one that blossoms too soon, 'twill starve a Sloe, or Hedg-peake.
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 432 The slow, or hedge-peak-bush is apt to die in the hill country.
hedge pink n. the Soapwort, Saponaria officinalis.
hedge-speak n. a local name for the wild hep, the fruit of the dog-rose; also for the sloe, esp. a small kind of sloe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorn-tree or -bush > brier or wild rose-bush > [noun] > part of > hip
hipeOE
shoop1483
pear1576
hedge-peak1630
choop1820
rose berry1822
rose hip1833
hedge-speak1847
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > plum > sloe
sloec725
blackberry1567
cat-sloe1578
snag1578
hedge-peak1630
bull-plum1770
hedge-speak1847
winterpick1859
egg-peg1878
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Hedge-speaks, hips. Glouc.
1855 Househ. Words X. 172 That's the very bush..it's grow'd to almost a tree, and bears hedge-speakes.
1893 G. E. Dartnell & E. H. Goddard Gloss. Words Wilts. at Sloe In N. Wilts, at Huish, Slŏns are large and Hedge-speäks small.
hedge-taper n. the Great Mullein; = hag taper n.
ΚΠ
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things i. 2 An herbe called Mullen (some called it Hedge taper).
hedge-thorn n. a thorn-bush growing in a hedge, esp. the hawthorn.
ΚΠ
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 1026 The Hawthorne is called..Hawthorne or Hedgethorne, Whitethorne and May or May-bush.
hedge-vine n. (also heg-vine) (a name given by Turner to) Clematis Vitalba.
ΚΠ
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. G.viijv It maye be called in englishe Heguine or Downiuine.
hedge violet n. Viola sylvatica.
hedge woundwort n. Stachys sylvatica.
Draft additions September 2003
hedge fund n. Finance (originally U.S.) a largely unregulated investment fund formed as a private limited partnership.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > other investment funds
investment fund1784
investment vehicle1920
I.R.A.1921
no-load1963
hedge fund1966
swap fund1966
offshore fund1969
roll-up fund1983
tokkin1985
PEP1986
rolled-up1987
1966 N.Y. Times 26 Nov. 53/5 One of Wall Street's little known but highly profitable vehicles for private investors—the hedge fund. These hedge funds are limited partnerships, as contrasted to mutual funds that are open to the public.
1977 Time 13 June 47/3 Howard runs a private investment portfolio—known as a ‘hedge fund’—that has earned more than 1,000% on its original investment in 1969.
2002 New Yorker 20 May 111/3 Although plenty of sane men and women run hedge funds, the funds seem to have been designed for manic personalities.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
hedgev.
1. transitive. To surround with a hedge or fence as a boundary, or for purposes of defence. Also with in, about. to hedge off: to fence off with a hedge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclose [verb (transitive)] > with a fence or hedge
haya1050
frith1377
hain14..
hedgea1425
fence1435
tinec1440
bara1500
mound1515
fence1535
teen1616
mile1655
picket1745
ring-fence1761
zariba1885
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > shut up (a place) > with a barrier, fence, etc.
hedgea1425
stakea1500
to rail offc1500
stake1598
chain1603
rope1621
fence1767
hurdle1770–4
barrier1776
traverse1828
ward1842
stone1889
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > barricade > [verb (transitive)] > surround with hedge or fence
hedgea1425
c1000 Rectitud. Sing. Pers. c. 2 in Schmid Gesetze 372 On sumon he sceal..bytlian, and burh hegegian.]
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Matt. xxi. 33 An hosebonde man..plauntide a vynȝerd, and heggide it aboute.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 517 Heggis and wardis..for to close and kepe and hegge yn.
1483 Cath. Angl. 180/1 To Hege, ubi to close.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Ovv Defenced & hedged about with the sacramentes of christes churche.
1652 E. Ashmole Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum 214 Heggyd and dychyd to make yt sure and strong.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 37 Pallisadoes..hedge in at least a Mile of ground.
1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote I. iii. xi. 162 For, 'Till you hedge in the sky, the starlings will fly.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) I. 443 In need of being watered, and of being hedged round.
1897 Advance (Chicago) 14 Jan. 58/3 A portion of the home-park is hedged-off for her particular diversions.
2. intransitive or absol. To construct hedges or fences.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > hedging > make or repair hedge [verb (intransitive)]
hedge1393
frith1808
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. vi. 19 Heggen oþer harwen..oþer swyn oþer gees dryue.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 232/2 Hedgyn, or make an hedge..sepio.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 24v No season to hedge.
a1845 T. Hood Lay of Labourer ii To hedge, or dig the ditch.
3.
a. transitive. To shape (trees) to form hedges.
ΚΠ
a1735 Earl of Haddington Short Treat. Forest-trees 15 in J. G. Reid Scots Gardiner (1756) The hedging of trees, in my opinion, takes away much of the beauty they have in their natural shape.
b. To arrange so as to form a barrier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > shut up (a place) > with a barrier, fence, etc. > arrange to form a barrier
hedge1812
1812 Examiner 25 May 332/1 As well..oppose the inundations of the mountain torrent by hedging up piles of chaff.
1868 A. I. Menken Infelicia 15 I know that ye [Philistines] are hedged on the borders of my path.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > quality of being special or restricted in application > quality of being restricted or limited > restrict or limit [verb (transitive)] > limit or define
definec1400
hedgec1440
determinate1563
demark1834
delimit1849
c1440 York Myst. xli. 206 The lawe is hedgyd for theme right playn, That they muste be puryfied agayne.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Rvijv For this worde (wife) in the first proposition, is hedged with her circumstance, that is to say, aduoutry, whiche causeth diuorcement.
5. † c. In reference to trade; to restrict or confine to one's own use; to monopolize. Obsolete.
a. To surround as with a hedge or fence. Also with in, about, around.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclose [verb (transitive)]
beloukOE
pind?c1225
closec1275
beshuta1300
to shut about13..
umbclosec1330
to close about1340
aclosec1350
in close1393
enclose?a1400
tinec1400
concludea1425
includec1425
wallc1430
underclosec1440
inclusea1450
hedgec1500
lista1513
inrail1523
interclude1524
fence1535
parclose1535
riba1547
pale1570
impale1579
embay1582
immure1583
upclosec1590
enchase1591
interclose1592
recinct1598
underfong1599
intermure1606
bound1609
engirt1627
bosom1637
infence1652
cancellate1664
circumclude1677
embosomc1750
comprehend1807
c1500 Ffor to serve a Lord in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 375 The ffirst cours: brawne, with the borys hed, lying in a felde, hegge about with a scriptur, sayng on this wyse; ‘Welcombe you bretheren godely in this hall!’
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Astrophel & Stella (1591) 31 The flower de lys..strongly hedgd of bloody Lyons pawes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) iv. v. 122 There's such Diuinity doth hedge a King.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) ii. i. 26 England hedg'd in with the maine, That Water-walled Bulwarke. View more context for this quotation
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 36 (note) They would hedge him about with Pearl.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 197. ⁋3 Hedged in by Logical Terms.
1894 Nature 26 July 295 A pursuit which is further hedged about with a formidable and unwieldy terminology.
b. To hem in, so as to prevent escape or free movement; to confine, restrict.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > confine [verb (transitive)]
beloukOE
loukOE
sparc1175
pena1200
bepen?c1225
pind?c1225
prison?c1225
spearc1300
stopc1315
restraina1325
aclosec1350
forbara1375
reclosea1382
ward1390
enclose1393
locka1400
reclusea1400
pinc1400
sparc1430
hamperc1440
umbecastc1440
murea1450
penda1450
mew?c1450
to shut inc1460
encharter1484
to shut up1490
bara1500
hedge1549
hema1552
impound1562
strain1566
chamber1568
to lock up1568
coop1570
incarcerate1575
cage1577
mew1581
kennel1582
coop1583
encagea1586
pound1589
imprisonc1595
encloister1596
button1598
immure1598
seclude1598
uplock1600
stow1602
confine1603
jail1604
hearse1608
bail1609
hasp1620
cub1621
secure1621
incarcera1653
fasten1658
to keep up1673
nun1753
mope1765
quarantine1804
peg1824
penfold1851
encoop1867
oubliette1884
jigger1887
corral1890
maroon1904
to bang up1950
to lock down1971
1549 H. Latimer 1st Serm. before Kynges Grace sig. Biiii I wil hedge strongly thy waye.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 2 The Duke..seeyng all the country ready set to hedge him in.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. i. 18 If my Father had not scanted me, And hedgd me by his wit to yeeld my selfe His wife, who winnes me by that meanes. View more context for this quotation
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus ii. 12 This excellent grace hedgeth his heart.
a1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 77 To hedge you up from courses of sin.
1828 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I II. v. 108 The King was hedged in by the most thorny difficulties.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. x. 66 I found myself so hedged in by fissures [etc.].
1863 C. E. L. Riddell World in Church (1865) 66 ‘By Jove, I am getting hedged’, thought the young man.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading conditions > [verb (transitive)] > restrict use or monopolize
monopolize?1601
hedge1701
1701 W. Paterson Proposals Council of Trade 78 Perswaded..that by the meer means or wayes of Monopoly, præemption and exclusion, they could hedge in the Herring, Code and other sorts of Fish, as some of the same stamp..that they can thus not only hedge in their Wool, but hinder it or any thing like it to grow elsewhere.
1701 W. Paterson Proposals Council of Trade 106 They are at least as incapable of hedging in the Herring, white, and other sorts of Fish, as our Ancestors have been.
1832 Westm. Rev. 17 273 The attempt to hedge-in gold and silver.
6. † b. to hedge out: to shut or keep out, to exclude.
a. To obstruct as with a hedge; also to hedge up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > close by obstruction or block up > block the way or a passage
forsetc900
withseta1300
stop13..
speara1325
withsperre1330
to stop one's way1338
shut1362
forbara1375
beseta1400
stopc1400
precludea1513
interclude1526
to shut up1526
forestall1528
fence1535
hedge1535
quar1542
foreclose1548
forestop1566
to flounder up1576
obstruct1578
bar1590
retrench1590
to shut the door in (also upon) (a person's) face1596
barricade1606
barricado1611
thwartc1630
blocka1644
overthwart1654
rebarricado1655
to choke up1673
blockade1696
embarrass1735
snow1816
roadblock1950
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Job xix. 8 He hath hedged up my path.
1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes conc. Coroners & Sherifes (new ed.) 119 If any high-waies or foote-pathes to Church, Mill, or Market bee stopped or hedged up.
1855 J. S. C. Abbott Hist. Napoleon II. xiv. 259 The path of the army seemed now entirely hedged up.
1864 D. G. Mitchell Seven Stories 227 The difficulties which hedged all approach.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > be on the outside of [verb (transitive)] > keep or shut out
loukc1275
speara1300
beshutc1330
forbarc1330
warn?a1366
to close outa1382
to shut outc1384
steeka1393
again-louka1400
to keep outc1425
outshutc1450
seclude1498
to stop outc1530
to hedge out1549
confine1577
to hold out1583
out-bar1590
debar1593
excommunicate1602
expel1604
immurec1616
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 4th Serm. sig. Kviiiv Nay ye be hedged out of that lyberty.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. i. 59 Nay this shall not hedge vs out, weele here you sing certainely. View more context for this quotation
1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. ii. 78 Lollius Urbicus..drew another Wall of Turves..to hedge out incursions from the North.
1701 W. Paterson Proposals Council of Trade 181 Money..[is] capable of being hedged out, but never of being hedged in, by Restraints, Coercions, and Prohibitions.
a. To secure (a debt), apparently usually by including it in a larger one for which better security is obtained. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > borrowing money > borrow money [verb (transitive)] > secure a loan
to hedge in?1607
?1607 J. Donne Let. in Poems (1633) 360 You thinke you have hedged in that debt by a greater by your letter in verse.
1631 B. Jonson Divell is Asse iii. ii. 6 in Wks. II A mere toy (some pretty Ring, or Iewell) Of fifty, or threescore pound, (Make it a hundred, And hedge in the last forty, that I owe you, And your owne price for the Ring).
1667 E. Waterhouse Short Narr. Fire London 165 To inforce him to hedg in his first Debt by addition of money lent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > introduction or bringing in > introduce or bring something in [verb (transitive)] > intrude or insinuate
intruse?a1500
ingyre1513
shuffle1565
cog1570
foist1570
wind?1570
obtrudea1575
interject1588
filch?1589
intrude1592
inthrust1605
possess1606
suborna1620
inedge1632
interlopea1641
subintroducteda1641
subintroduce1643
to hedge in1664
insinuate1665
dodge1687
lug1721
assinuate1742
wriggle1766
fudge1776
intertrude1809
injeer1820
protrude1840
sniggle1881
1664 J. Wilson Cheats iii. ii. 35 Pox o' these bonds, I must perswade him to take another 1000l. and hedge all, into one good Mortgage.
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng (1725) 163 He could never..have any pretence, to hedge in other Antiquities at his Pleasure.
1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian iv. i. 107 I prethee thee let me hedge one moment more Into thy promise.
1745 J. Swift Direct. to Servants 47 When you are sent on an Errand, be sure to hedge in some Business of your own.
a1764 R. Lloyd Epist. to Colman in Poet. Wks. (1774) I. 167 Proud to hedge in my scraps of wit.
8.
a. transitive. To secure oneself against loss on (a bet or other speculation) by making transactions on the other side so as to compensate more or less for possible loss on the first. Formerly also with in, off. Also figurative. (In origin apparently related to 7a.)
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > insurance > insure [verb (transitive)]
insure1635
hedge1672
cover1866
1672 Duke of Buckingham Rehearsal Prol. sig. A2 Now, Critiqus, do your worst, that here are met; For, like a Rook, I have hedg'd in my Bet.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Hedge, to secure a desperate Bet, Wager or Debt.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vi. §65 471 Abetting on one Side or the other, to hedge (as they call it) their own Stake.
1774 Westm. Mag. 2 583 He..contrived now-and-then prudently to hedge in a bet, by which means he soon found himself in possession of a sum which placed him above the abject dependence of a waiter.
1813 Sporting Mag. 41 4 I kept hedging my bets as I laid them.
1820 Sporting Mag. New Ser. VI. 79 This..induced most of the sporting men to hedge off their bets.
1887 E. J. Goodman Too Curious xi Backing the horse named and dexterously hedging his other investments.
b. absol. or intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > security > give assurance or stand surety [verb (intransitive)]
to lay one's life, head, to wed971
to find (take) God, Mahoun, St. Blase, St. George, etc. to borrowa1330
again-behotea1382
to make (also do) faitha1382
pledge1458
to make (also give) warrantisea1535
undertake1548
subscribe1600
underwrite1623
seal1633
underwritea1657
hedge1676
vouch1687
to stand surety (or security)1776
to take warrant on oneself1828
stipulate1829
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. I [Some] like cunning Betters, sate judiciously hedging, and so ordered their matters that which side soever prevail'd, they would be sure to be the Winners.
a1677 I. Barrow Wks. (1686) III. 397 This rooking trick, to hedge thus, and save stakes, to play fast and loose, to dodge and shuffle with God, God doth not like.
1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife v. iii. 96 When one has made a bad Bet, it is best to hedge off, You know.
1819 Sporting Mag. 4 76 No man should venture to bet, who could not hedge well.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xvii. 57 Godolphin..began to think..that he had betted too deep on the Revolution, and that it was time to hedge.
1894 Ld. Wolseley Life Marlborough II. lxxviii. 316 He played for averages..when, therefore, the stakes became high he invariably ‘hedged’ against all serious loss.
c. To insure against risk of loss by entering into contracts which balance one another. Also transitive, to operate in (a commodity) in this way.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [verb (intransitive)] > other types of money dealing
to bargain and sell1768
hedge1909
to break even1914
to wash its face1946
disinvest1961
reintermediate1979
pitch1980
divest1984
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [verb (transitive)] > other money-dealing operations
to part stakes (also shares)1553
marshal1771
float1872
squeeze1885
hedge1909
block1932
to lock in1950
divest1962
reintermediate1971
launder1973
wash1973
1909 I. Fisher Elimination of Risk 12 An important method of shifting risks is ‘hedging’, whereby a dealer, for instance in transporting wheat, may be relieved of the risk of a change of price.
1917 A. W. Atwood Exchanges & Speculation xiv. 195 Hedging..consists in matching a purchase with a sale, or vice versa; in other words, it consists in making a purchase or sale for future delivery to offset and protect an actual merchandising transaction.
1917 A. W. Atwood Exchanges & Speculation xiv. 197 It makes little difference to an elevator if wheat rises or falls fifty cents a bushel, provided its holdings have been hedged.
1957 Times 19 Dec. 16/1 We have drawn the attention of the stockholders to the difficulty in hedging our unsold stocks against a fall in cotton content value.
9. intransitive. To go aside from the straight way; to shift, shuffle, dodge; to trim; to avoid committing oneself irrevocably; to leave open a way of retreat or escape.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > evasive deception, shiftiness > act evasively [verb (intransitive)]
haft1519
shuffle1565
dodge1575
palter1580
shift1580
hedge1611
boggle1615
subterfuge1622
prevaricatea1625
to shuffle up and down1633
evade1660
sophisticate1664
janka1689
whiffle1737
tongue-twist1836
caffle1851
pussyfoot1902
sidestep1904
spruce1916
to fudge and mudge1980
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Harceler, to haggle, hucke, hedge, or paulter long in the buying of a commodity.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida (1623) iii. iii. 152 If you giue way, Or hedge aside from the direct forth right.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. ii. 25 I, I, I my selfe sometimes, leauing the feare of heauen on the left hand..am faine to shufflle: to hedge, and to lurch.
1861 O. W. Holmes Bread & Newspaper in Pages from Old Vol. (1891) 12 Prophesy as much as you like, but always hedge.
1866 London Rev. 8 Dec. 623 He has hedged with such dexterity upon this point that his clergy must be sorely puzzled to determine how far they may go in ritualistic observances.
1888 ‘P. Cushing’ Blacksmith of Voe I. 245 For a while the miller hedged and dodged, but being pressed hard he finally admitted the truth.
1894 Ld. Wolseley Life Marlborough II. 291 It was..natural to him to trim and hedge in politics.
Draft additions January 2011
figurative. to hedge one's bets: to confront uncertain circumstances by pursuing multiple courses of action; to avoid committing oneself. Cf. sense 8a.
ΚΠ
1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. x. 254 The game has been played and lost—I must hedge my bets: India must be my back-play.
1855 Times 18 Dec. 4/3 They desired to stand safe in any event; and, as they had staked heavily on the cause of the revolution, they hedged their bets by trafficking for a restoration.
1948 Billboard 10 Jan. 8/1 FCC insiders..are beginning to hedge their bets, since the heavy commission turnover makes it possible..to force a complete reversal of the partial clear break-up that looked like a sure thing.
1973 Changing Times Aug. 15/1 Many doctors prescribe antibiotics to hedge their bets just in case they've missed the diagnosis.
1991 Writer's Digest Nov. 6/3 Why the vacuous verbiage?..These qualifiers let us hedge our bets whenever we fall victim to fear of commitment.
2004 S. Mehta Maximum City 340 To hedge their bets, the stars usually work on three or four films at the same time.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.785v.1393