— hedgeless , adj.
/hej/ , n. , v. , hedged, hedging .
n.
1. a row of bushes or small trees planted close together, esp. when forming a fence or boundary; hedgerow: small fields separated by hedges.
2. any barrier or boundary: a hedge of stones.
3. an act or means of preventing complete loss of a bet, an argument, an investment, or the like, with a partially counterbalancing or qualifying one.
v.t.
4. to enclose with or separate by a hedge: to hedge a garden.
5. to surround and confine as if with a hedge; restrict (often fol. by in, about, etc.): He felt hedged in by the rules of language.
6. to protect with qualifications that allow for unstated contingencies or for withdrawal from commitment: He hedged his program against attack and then presented it to the board.
7. to mitigate a possible loss by counterbalancing (one's bets, investments, etc.).
8. to prevent or hinder free movement; obstruct: to be hedged by poverty.
v.i.
9. to avoid a rigid commitment by qualifying or modifying a position so as to permit withdrawal: He felt that he was speaking too boldly and began to hedge before they could contradict him.
10. to prevent complete loss of a bet by betting an additional amount or amounts against the original bet.
11. Finance. to enter transactions that will protect against loss through a compensatory price movement.
[ bef. 900; ME, OE hegge; c. D heg, G Hecke hedge, ON heggr bird cherry ]
Syn. 9. evade, stall, delay, temporize, waffle.