Definitions for hedge
hɛdʒhedge

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. hedge, hedgerownoun

   a fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes

2. hedge, hedgingnoun

   any technique designed to reduce or eliminate financial risk; for example, taking two positions that will offset each other if prices change

3. hedge, hedgingverb

   an intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement

   "when you say `maybe' you are just hedging"

4. hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestepverb

   avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)

   "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully"

5. hedgeverb

   hinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge

   "The animals were hedged in"

6. hedge, hedge inverb

   enclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges

   "hedge the property"

7. hedgeverb

   minimize loss or risk

   "diversify your financial portfolio to hedge price risks"; "hedge your bets"

GCIDERate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Hedgeverb

   To protect oneself against excessive loss in an activity by taking a countervailing action; as, to hedge an investment denominated in a foreign currency by buying or selling futures in that currency; to hedge a donation to one political party by also donating to the opposed political party.

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. hedgenoun

   A thicket of bushes, usually thorn bushes; especially, such a thicket planted as a fence between any two portions of land; and also any sort of shrubbery, as evergreens, planted in a line or as a fence; particularly, such a thicket planted round a field to fence it, or in rows to separate the parts of a garden.

   He trims the hedge once a week.

2. hedgenoun

   A non-committal or intentionally ambiguous statement.

3. hedgenoun

   Contract or arrangement reducing one's exposure to risk (for example the risk of price movements or interest rate movements).

   The asset class acts as a hedge.

4. hedgenoun

   Used attributively, with figurative indication of a person's upbringing, or professional activities, taking place by the side of the road; third-rate.

5. hedgeverb

   To enclose.

6. hedgeverb

   To obstruct.

7. hedgeverb

   To offset the risk associated with.

8. hedgeverb

   To avoid verbal commitment.

   He carefully hedged his statements with weasel words.

9. hedgeverb

   To construct or repair a hedge.

10. hedgeverb

    To reduce one's exposure to risk.

11. Etymology: From hegge, from hecg, from hagjō (compare Dutch heg, German Hecke), from kagʰyo-. More at haw.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Hedge

   prefixed to any word, notes something mean, vile, of the lowest class: perhaps from a hedge, or hedge-born man, a man without any known place of birth.

   There are five in the first shew: the pedant, the braggart, the hedge-priest, the fool, and the boy. William Shakespeare.

   The clergy do much better than a little hedge, contemptible, illiterate vicar can be presumed to do. Jonathan Swift.

   A person, who, by his stile and literature, seems to have been the corrector of a hedge-press in Little Britain, proceeded gradually to an author. Jonathan Swift.

2. HEDGEnoun

   A fence made round grounds with prickly bushes.

   Etymology: hegge, Saxon.

   It is a good wood for fire, if kept dry; and is very useful for stakes in hedges. John Mortimer, Husbandry.

   The gardens unfold variety of colours to the eye every morning, and the hedges breath is beyond all perfume. Alexander Pope.

   Through the verdant maze
   Of sweet-briar hedges I pursue my walk. James Thomson.

3. To Hedgeverb

   Etymology: from the noun.

   1. To inclose with a hedge, or fence of wood dry or growing.

   Hedge thy possession about with thorns. Ecclus. xxviii. 24.

   Those alleys must be hedged at both ends, to keep out the wind. Francis Bacon, Essay 47.

   2. To obstruct.

   I will hedge up thy way with thorns. Hos. ii. 6.

   3. To incircle for defence.

   England, hedg’d in with the main,
   That water-walled bulwark, still secure
   And confident from foreign purposes. William Shakespeare, King John.

   There’s such divinity doth hedge a king,
   That reason can but peep to what it would. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

   4. To shut up within an inclosure.

   It must not be paid and exported in ready money; so says our law; but that is a law to hedge in the cuckow, and serves for no purpose: for if we export not goods, for which our merchants have money due to them, how can it be paid by bills of exchange? John Locke.

   5. To force into a place already full. This seems to be mistaken for edge.To edge in, is to put in by the way that requires least room; but hedge may signify to thrust in with difficulty, as into a hedge.

   Bay not me,
   I’ll not endure it: you forget yourself
   To hedge me in: I am a soldier. William Shakespeare, Julius Cæsar.

   When I was hasty, thou delay’dst me longer:
   I pr’ythee, let me hedge one moment more
   Into thy promise; for thy life preserv’d. Dryden.

   When you are sent on an errand, be sure to hedge in some business of your own. Jonathan Swift, Directions to the Footman.

4. To Hedgeverb

   To shift; to hide the head.

   I myself sometimes, hiding mine honour in my necessity, am fain to shuffle, to hedge, and to lurch; and yet you rogue will ensconce your rags, your catamountain looks, your red-lettice phrases. William Shakespeare.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Hedge

   A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoining fields or one field from another, and are of sufficient age to incorporate larger trees, are known as hedgerows. Often they serve as windbreaks to improve conditions for the adjacent crops, as in bocage country. When clipped and maintained, hedges are also a simple form of topiary. A hedge often operates as, and sometimes is called, a "live fence". This may either consist of individual fence posts connected with wire or other fencing material, or it may be in the form of densely planted hedges without interconnecting wire. This is common in tropical areas where low-income farmers can demarcate properties and reduce maintenance of fence posts that otherwise deteriorate rapidly. Many other benefits can be obtained depending on the species chosen.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Hedgenoun

   a thicket of bushes, usually thorn bushes; especially, such a thicket planted as a fence between any two portions of land; and also any sort of shrubbery, as evergreens, planted in a line or as a fence; particularly, such a thicket planted round a field to fence it, or in rows to separate the parts of a garden

2. Hedgeverb

   to inclose or separate with a hedge; to fence with a thickly set line or thicket of shrubs or small trees; as, to hedge a field or garden

3. Hedgeverb

   to obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; -- sometimes with up and out

4. Hedgeverb

   to surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem (in)

5. Hedgeverb

   to surround so as to prevent escape

6. Hedgeverb

   to shelter one's self from danger, risk, duty, responsibility, etc., as if by hiding in or behind a hedge; to skulk; to slink; to shirk obligations

7. Hedgeverb

   to reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on

8. Hedgeverb

   to use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite

9. Etymology: [OE. hegge, AS. hecg; akin to haga an inclosure, E. haw, AS. hege hedge, E. haybote, D. hegge, OHG. hegga, G. hecke. 12. See Haw a hedge.]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Hedge

   A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and tree species, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area. Hedges used to separate a road from adjoining fields or one field from another, and of sufficient age to incorporate larger trees, are known as hedgerows. It is also a simple form of topiary.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Hedge

   hej, n. a thicket of bushes: a fence round a field, &c.: any means of protection.—v.t. to enclose with a hedge: to obstruct: to surround: to guard: to protect one's self from loss by betting on both sides.—v.i. to shuffle: to be shifty: to skulk.—ns. Hedge′bill, Hedg′ing-bill, a bill or hatchet for dressing hedges.—adj. Hedge′-born, of low birth, as if born under a hedge or in the woods: low: obscure.—ns. Hedge′bote, an old word for the right of a tenant to cut wood on the farm or land for repairing the hedges or fences; Hedge′-creep′er, a sneaking rogue; Hedge′hog, a small prickly-backed quadruped, so called from living in hedges and bushes, and its resemblance to a hog or pig; Hedge′hog-plant, a species of medick, having the pods spirally twisted and rolled up into a ball beset with spines; Hedge′hog-this′tle, hedgehog-cactus; Hedge′-hyss′op, a European perennial plant of the figwort family, with emetic and purgative qualities; Hedge′-knife, an instrument for trimming hedges; Hedge′-mar′riage, a clandestine marriage; Hedge′-mus′tard, a genus of plants of order Cruciferæ, annual or rarely perennial, with small yellow or white flowers; Hedge′-note, a valueless literary attempt; Hedge′-par′son, a mean parson, generally illiterate; Hedge′pig (Shak.), a young hedgehog; Hedge′-priest, an ignorant itinerant priest; Hedg′er, one who dresses hedges; Hedge′row, a row of trees or shrubs for hedging fields; Hedge′-school, an open-air school kept by the side of a hedge in Ireland; Hedge′-shrew, the field-mouse; Hedge′-sparr′ow, Hedge′-war′bler, a little singing bird, like a sparrow, which frequents hedges; Hedge′-writ′er, a Grub-street author; Hedg′ing, the work of a hedger.—adj. Hedg′y. [A.S. hecg, hegg; Dut. hegge, Ger. hecke.]

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon WurdzRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. HEDGE

   A fence. HEDGEHOG One who hogs the fences. A Bill-Poster.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. hedge

   To surround for defense; to fortify; to guard; to protect; to hem. To surround so as to prevent escape.

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. hedge

   A type of cultivar, plant or seed.

   As part of the landscape development contracts there was the planting of hedge.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on March 19, 2020  

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. HEDGE

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hedge is ranked #8641 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Hedge surname appeared 3,805 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Hedge.
   
   84.7% or 3,223 total occurrences were White.
   5.9% or 228 total occurrences were Black.
   4.7% or 180 total occurrences were Asian.
   2.1% or 81 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1.9% or 73 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   0.5% or 20 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Enclose
   • Fence
   • Hem In
   • Minimize
   • Protection

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'hedge' in Nouns Frequency: #2219

How to pronounce hedge?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say hedge in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of hedge in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of hedge in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of hedge in a Sentence

1. Chihiro Ohta:

   The mood was already sour in the morning but it deteriorated after Chinese shares reacted to the news. This pushed investors to hedge against further drops by selling futures.

2. Donald Trump:

   This country was not built by Wall Street banks, and CEOs and hedge fund managers, it was built by the great American middle class.

3. Bill Stone:

   Adjusting for seasonality, the gain in the index was driven by lower outflows combined with steady inflows, this indicates that investors are increasing their allocations to hedge funds as markets in the U.S. and abroad are producing uneven returns, including significant upheaval in China and Greece.

4. Brian Busch:

   There's no reason to unwind a hedge yet.

5. Andre Cilliers:

   Risk sentiment in markets turned negative as major stock markets suffered big losses yesterday, and investors turned to the dollar for safety, concerns surrounding stock over-valuations saw hedge funds reduce long positions, which triggered a bigger sell-off.

Popularity rank by frequency of use