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
SYNONYMS FOR hedge
9 evade, stall, delay, temporize, waffle.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR hedge ON THESAURUS.COM
OTHER WORDS FROM hedge
hedgeless,adjectiveun·hedge,verb (used with object),un·hedged,un·hedg·ing.un·hedged,adjectivewell-hedged,adjective