hedge

1. 1.

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

   Synonymshedgerow

   Broaderfence

   Narrowerprivet hedgewindbreak
2. 2.

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

   Synonymshedging

   Broadersecurity
3. 3.

   an intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement

   “when you say `maybe' you are just hedging”

   Synonymshedging

   Broaderevasion

Other forms of hedge

plural

hedges·

past tense

hedged·

present participle

hedging·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about hedge

What does hedge mean?

hedge means "avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)". That is the primary sense; the word has 7 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in hedge?

hedge has 1 syllable: hedge. In IPA it is /ˈhɛdʒ/.

What is another word for hedge?

Close synonyms include fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is hedge a common word?

hedge is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.