HEDGE

n. row of bushes forming a fence or boundary; barrier, limit

v. surround with a hedge; put up a boundary, enclose; evade, avoid; avoid making a direct answer or statement

The word hedge may be used to refer to an artificial boundary, erected to contain or protect:A hedge or hedgerow in agriculture and in gardening is a lineal barrier or boundary made from growing plants planted and grown in such a way that their limbs densely intertwine, keeping livestock securely within bounds. This is the original meaning of the word. In the US, the term may also refer to the Osage-orange tree, (Maclura pomifera) sometimes called the "hedge tree". In Europe, rural hedges are more commonly composed of Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), or European Beech (Fagus sylvatica), while urban hedges are usually composed of Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) bushes or conifers like Leylandii (Cupressus leylandii). Decorative hedges in ornamental gardens are most frequently composed of Buxus (Buxus sempervirens, Common Box or European Box) or of Common Yew (Taxus baccata).A hedge in gambling or finance is a bet or investment taken to reduce loss, should another bet or investment turn out unfavourably.Hedges in linguistics are intentionally non-committal or ambiguous sentence fragments, such as "sort of", "kind of", "like".
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Noun
1. a fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes
(synonym) hedgerow
(hypernym) fence, fencing
(hyponym) privet hedge
2. any technique designed to reduce or eliminate financial risk; for example, taking two positions that will offset each other if prices change
(synonym) hedging
(hypernym) security, protection
3. an intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement; "when you say `maybe' you are just hedging"
(synonym) hedging
(hypernym) evasion, equivocation
(derivation) fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep
Verb
1. 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"
(synonym) fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep
(hypernym) avoid
(hyponym) quibble
(derivation) hedging
2. hinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge; "The animals were hedged in"
(hypernym) hem in
(verb-group) hedge in
3. enclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges; "hedge the property"
(synonym) hedge in
(hypernym) enclose, inclose, shut in
4. minimize loss or risk; "diversify your financial portfolio to hedge price risks"; "hedge your bets"
(hypernym) minimize, minimise
(derivation) hedger

(v. t.)
To surround so as to prevent escape.
  

(v. t.)
To surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem (in).
  

(v. t.)
To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; -- sometimes with up and out.
  

(v. t.)
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.
  

(v. i.)
To use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite.
  

(v. i.)
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.
  

(v. i.)
To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on.
  

(n.)
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.
  

A transaction that reduces the risk of an investment.