Word.ws English Dictionary

hedging

/ˈhɛd͡ʒɪŋ/

hedging is the present participle and gerund of hedge.

Noun

hedging (plural hedgings)

  1. The act of one who hedges (in various senses).
  2. Any plant used to form a hedge.
  3. (composition) The use of intentionally ambiguous or noncommittal statements.
    • Such hedging is necessitated by the lack of in-depth knowledge of the contents, which also gives free rein to the scripting of unsubstantiated factoids concerning the book.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
  4. the practice of taking a position in one market to offset and balance against the risk adopted by assuming a position in a contrary or opposing market or investment

Meaning of hedge

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
  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.

See all 13 meanings of hedge

Forms of hedging

pluralhedgings

Words formed from hedging

Phrases with hedging

Words that rhyme with hedging

Questions about hedging

What does hedging mean?
Hedging means the act of one who hedges (in various senses).
What is hedging the present participle and gerund of?
Hedging is the present participle and gerund of hedge.
What part of speech is hedging?
Hedging is a noun.
How do you pronounce hedging?
Hedging is pronounced /ˈhɛd͡ʒɪŋ/.
What is the plural of hedging?
The plural of hedging is hedgings.

Words near hedging in the dictionary

  1. hedgie
  2. hedgier
  3. hedgies
  4. hedgiest
  5. hedginess
  6. hedging
  7. hedging about
  8. hedging around
  9. hedging bill
  10. hedging in
  11. hedging one's bets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hedging (page history and authors); hedge (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hedging.wav.

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