Word.ws English Dictionary

hedge

/ˈhɛd͡ʒ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈhed͡ʒ/

hedge noun: a thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of land, or to separate the parts of a garden.

hedge: a thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of...
Image: RockyMasum, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

hedge (plural hedges)

  1. A thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of land, or to separate the parts of a garden.
    • He trims the hedge once a week.
    • But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window[…], and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the...1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC
  2. A barrier (often consisting of a line of persons or objects) to protect someone or something from harm.
    • Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 1:9–10
  3. (Cornwall, Devon, UK, West-Country) A mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, often topped with bushes, used as a fence between any two portions of land.
  4. (especially applied linguistics and pragmatics) A noncommittal or intentionally ambiguous statement.
    • When not inaccurate, much commentary on the contents of Hobson-Jobson is couched in hedges or relies on speculative estimates in the absence of exact information.2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 487
  5. 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.
    • A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses/gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. In simple language, a hedge is used to reduce any substantial losses/gains suffered by an individual or an organization.
  6. (Ireland, UK, attributive, figuratively) With indication of a person's upbringing, or professional activities, taking place by the side of the road; being third-rate, poor, shoddy.
    • Attalus[…]made him so dead-drunke that insensibly and without feeling he might prostitute his beauty as the body of a common hedge-harlot, to Mulettiers, Groomes and many of the abject servants of his house.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 2, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
    • He then traced them from place to place, till at last he found two of them drinking together, with a third person, at a hedge-tavern near Aldersgate.

Verb

hedge (third-person singular simple present hedges, present participle hedging, simple past and past participle hedged)

  1. (transitive) To enclose with a hedge or hedges.
    • to hedge a field or garden
  2. (transitive) To obstruct or surround.
    • Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hosea 2:6
    • Lollius Urbius […] drew another wall […] to hedge out incursions from the north.1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC
  3. (transitive) To offset the risk associated with.
  4. (ambitransitive) To avoid verbal commitment.
    • He carefully hedged his statements with weasel words.
    Synonyms:
    parry, shuffle
  5. (intransitive) To construct or repair a hedge.
  6. (intransitive) To reduce one's exposure to risk.

Proper noun capitalized: Hedge

Hedge (plural Hedges)

  1. A surname.

hedge meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

hedge in Hindi

हेज

hedge in Tamil

மழுப்பு, மறை, பாதுகாத்தல், முள்வேலி, புதர்வேலி

hedge in Marathi

हेज

hedge in Urdu

باڑھ, گھیرنا, حفاظت کرنا, محاصرہ کرنا, نگاہ رکھنا, نگہبانی کرنا
More languagesFewer languages
hedge in Bengali
ঝোপের বেড়া, সীমানা, ঝুঁকি কমানোর ব্যবস্থা
hedge in Telugu
తెట్టు teṭṭu
hedge in Malayalam
കുറ്റിച്ചെടികൾകൊണ്ടുള്ള വേലി
hedge in Kannada
ಪೊದೆ, ಬೇಲಿ, ವೇಲಿ, ಕುರುಚಲು ಗಿಡ
hedge in Punjabi
ਖਿੱਤੀ khittī
hedge in Gujarati
હેજ, હેજ કરવા માટે, હેજિંગ કરવા માટે
hedge in Odia
ହେଜ୍, ହେଜ, ହେଜ୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
hedge in Sanskrit
वृति vṛti
hedge in Nepali
हेज गर्न, हेजिंग गर्न, हेजिङ गर्न
hedge in Arabic
وَشِيع wašīʕ, سِيَاج نَبَاتِيّ siyāj nabātiyy
hedge in Indonesian
pagar hidup
hedge in Persian
پرچین parčin

Examples of hedge in a sentence

  • He bought a January '08 put for Procter and Gamble at 80 to hedge his bet.
  • The car careered down the road, missed the curve, and went through a hedge.
  • The pony took every hedge and fence in its path.

All 40 example sentences with hedge

Synonyms of hedge

Forms of hedge

Noun
pluralhedges
Verb
third-person singular presenthedges
present participlehedging
past participlehedged
pasthedged
Proper noun
pluralHedges

Past tense of hedge: hedged

Plural of hedge: hedges

Origin of hedge

From Middle English hegge, from Old English heċġ, from Proto-West Germanic *haggju, from Proto-Germanic *hagjō, from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (“enclosure”). Cognate with Dutch heg, German Hecke. Doublet of hey (a choreographic figure) and quay. More at haw.

Inherited from Middle English heggen, from the noun (see above).

Words formed from hedge

Phrases with hedge

22 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with hedge

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about hedge

What does hedge mean?
Hedge means a thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of land, or to separate the parts of a garden.
What is hedge in Hindi?
Hedge in Hindi is हेज. See Hedge meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is hedge?
Hedge can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce hedge?
Hedge is pronounced /ˈhɛd͡ʒ/ (UK).
What is the plural of hedge?
The plural of hedge is hedges.

Words near hedge in the dictionary

  1. hederin
  2. hederins
  3. heders
  4. hedes
  5. Hedetniemi's conjecture
  6. hedge
  7. hedge about
  8. hedge alehouse
  9. hedge alehouses
  10. hedge apple
  11. hedge apples

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hedge (page history and authors); Hedge (page history and authors); hedge (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hedge (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hedge (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hedge (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Hedge (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); తెట్టు (Telugu) (page history and authors); hedge (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hedge (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਖਿੱਤੀ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); hedge (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hedge (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); वृति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); hedge (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-hedge.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hedge.wav.

Cite this entry: “hedge.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hedge. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.