Hedge Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (2024)

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Hedge Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary? ›

1. : a row of shrubs or small trees that are planted close to each other in order to form a boundary. 2. : something that provides protection or defense — usually + against. She invests her money as a hedge against inflation.

: a fence or boundary formed by a dense row of shrubs or low trees.

hedge. / (hɛdʒ) / noun. a row of shrubs, bushes, or trees forming a boundary to a field, garden, etc. a barrier or protection against something.

A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties.

Hedging is a strategy that tries to limit risks in financial assets. It uses financial instruments or market strategies to offset the risk of any adverse price movements.

As seen with Job, a hedge is an apt illustration for what God's protection looks like. The Old Testament Hebrew word really means “wall.” When it came to a village, town, or city, a “hedge” was a defensive wall often built around a city.

Job 1:10 “Have you not put a hedge of protection around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.” Here in America, I do not think of a hedge as protection.

a physical object that blocks the way the messenger was confronted with a hedge of spears held aloft by the castle guards. fence. wall. barrier. barricade.

Definitions of hedge. a fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes. synonyms: hedgerow.

The word hedge is from Old English hecg, originally any fence, living or artificial. The first known use of the word as a verb meaning 'dodge, evade' dates from the 1590s; that of 'insure oneself against loss,' as in a bet, is from the 1670s.

What is an example of a hedge? ›

For example, if you buy homeowner's insurance, you are hedging yourself against fires, break-ins, or other unforeseen disasters. Portfolio managers, individual investors, and corporations use hedging techniques to reduce their exposure to various risks.

a line of bushes or small trees planted very close together, especially along the edge of a garden, field, or road: a privet hedge.

What does Hedging mean? A general term referring to strategies adopted to offset financial risk, ie typically fluctuations in interest or exchange rates by for example entering into swap transactions.

In financial markets, two ways exist to manage risk. You can hedge it, which means taking a little less of it and giving up some potential upside—so you balance your investment portfolio of stocks, which tend to be volatile, with safer assets, like bonds. Lindblad hedges by being picky about who gets a bond.

Benefits of hedging

Limit losses – Hedging allows you to limit your losses to an amount that you're comfortable with. The cost of the hedge will limit your upside, but you can be sure that your losses won't balloon in the case of a price decline.

Hedging is defined here as insurance-seeking behavior, with three attributes: (a) not taking sides; (b) pursuing opposite, mutually-counteracting measures to offset multiple risks; and (c) diversifying and cultivating a fallback position.

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 quay.

English: topographic name for someone who lived by a hedge or enclosure, from Middle English hegge 'hedge, fence'. In the early Middle Ages, hedges were not merely dividers between fields, but had an important defensive function when planted around a settlement or enclosure.

Long before they shielded celebrities from the paparazzi, hedges were used to denote property ownership, retain livestock and protect land from wild animals or other threats. Hedges in the English countryside date back to at least the Bronze Age; eventually, manicured hedges became an integral part of garden design.

Hedging language refers to how a writer expresses certainty or uncertainty. Often in academic writing, a writer may not be sure of the claims that are being made in their subject area, or perhaps the ideas are good but the evidence is not very strong.