Hedge

/hɛd͡ʒ/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: 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.
  • Grammar: hedge is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: abate, about the bush, adjust, adjust to.
  • Useful contrasts: assert, declare, expose.
  • Usage evidence: A hedge between keeps friendship green.

How to use "hedge"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hedge" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hedge" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hedge" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hedge" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "hedge" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "abate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "hedge", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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."

  2. 2
    a fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes wordnet
  3. 3
    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."

  4. 4
    an intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement wordnet
  5. 5
    A mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, often topped with bushes, used as a fence between any two portions of land. Cornwall, Devon, UK, West-Country
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    any technique designed to reduce or eliminate financial risk; for example, taking two positions that will offset each other if prices change wordnet
  2. 7
    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."

  3. 8
    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."

  4. 9
    With indication of a person's upbringing, or professional activities, taking place by the side of the road; third-rate, poor, shoddy. Ireland, UK, attributive, figuratively

    "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."

Verb
  1. 1
    To enclose with a hedge or hedges. transitive

    "to hedge a field or garden"

  2. 2
    minimize loss or risk wordnet
  3. 3
    To obstruct or surround. transitive

    "Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths."

  4. 4
    avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues) wordnet
  5. 5
    To offset the risk associated with. transitive
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    enclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges wordnet
  2. 7
    To avoid verbal commitment. ambitransitive

    "He carefully hedged his statements with weasel words."

  3. 8
    hinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge wordnet
  4. 9
    To construct or repair a hedge. intransitive
  5. 10
    To reduce one's exposure to risk. intransitive
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
abateabout the bushadjustadjust toallowancealter

Example

"A hedge between keeps friendship green."

Common questions

What does "hedge" mean?

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 a synonym for "hedge"?

Common synonyms include: abate, about the bush, adjust, adjust to, allowance, alter.

How do you use "hedge" in a sentence?

A hedge between keeps friendship green.

How do you pronounce "hedge"?

Pronounced /hɛd͡ʒ/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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

More for "hedge"

Synonyms

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