Word.ws English Dictionary

hedge witch

hedge witch noun: fungus of species Phallus impudicus, a type of stinkhorn.

Noun

hedge witch (plural hedge witches)

  1. Fungus of species Phallus impudicus, a type of stinkhorn.
    • The common name of the fungus is, as you say, Hedge Witch or Wood Witch; the scientific name is Phallus impudicus.1875, The Gardeners' Chronicle, New Series, Volume 4, page 725
    Synonyms:
    witch's egg, wood witch
  2. A modern, solitary witch who focuses on herbalism and shamanic experience (hedge riding).
    • One hedge witch who is also a practising iridologist and herbalist in a large country town, feels that we should regard all of nature as having a purpose, and continually strive to understand that purpose.1997, Lynne Hume, Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia, Melbourne University Press, page 45
    • While Hedge Witches may work with other Witches in a coven, their work as a Hedge Witch is performed typically on their own or with one other person.2005, Douglas Ezzy, Practising the Witch's Craft, page 14
  3. An inferior or small-scale witch.
    • "You're a magician, right?" he asked, trying to recapture the moment.
      Moira shrugged. "In a small way. I am a hedge witch."
      "That's interesting. What does a hedge witch do?"
      "What do I do? Oh, herbs and simples. A little healing. Some weather magic. I try to warn of dangers, find lost objects and...1989, Rick Cook, Wizard's Bane
    • It was extremely rare, but not unheard of, for civilians to work up a spell or two on their own, but as far as Quentin knew they never got into anything serious. Real magicians called them hedge witches.2009, Lev Grossman, The Magicians, volume 1

Examples of hedge witch in a sentence

  • The path of the hearth-based hedge witch is rooted in the parallel paths of nurturing and nourishing.2009, Arin Murphy-Hiscock, The Way of the Hedge Witch, Simon & Schuster, page 16:
  • Hedge riding is shamanic in nature and is usually solitary as the hedge witch is solitary, but there is no reason why you cannot practice with others.2012, Harmonia Saille, Pagan Portals - Hedge Witchcraft, John Hunt Publishing, page 10:

Synonyms of hedge witch

Forms of hedge witch

pluralhedge witches
alternative formhedgewitch

Origin of hedge witch

* (type of witch): Circa 1990s. From hedge (“boundary”) + witch, where the boundary is that separating this world from the spirit world, which is traversed during hedge riding. Possibly coined or popularised by Rae Beth (1990), Hedge Witch: A Guide to Solitary Witchcraft, London: Robert Hale, →ISBN. * (fantasy): Circa 1980s. From hedge (“third-rate”) + witch. Compare hedge priest, hedge wizard.

Questions about hedge witch

What does hedge witch mean?
Hedge witch means fungus of species Phallus impudicus, a type of stinkhorn.
How do you use hedge witch in a sentence?
The path of the hearth-based hedge witch is rooted in the parallel paths of nurturing and nourishing.
What part of speech is hedge witch?
Hedge witch is a noun.
What is the plural of hedge witch?
The plural of hedge witch is hedge witches.

Words near hedge witch in the dictionary

  1. hedge trimmers
  2. hedge warbler
  3. hedge warblers
  4. hedge whore
  5. hedge whores
  6. hedge witch
  7. hedge witches
  8. hedge wizard
  9. hedge wizards
  10. hedge-breaking
  11. hedge-clippers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hedge witch (page history and authors). 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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Cite this entry: “hedge witch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hedge_witch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.