Meaning of hedge In English

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

  • a privet hedge

• 1 a way of protecting, controlling, or limiting something:

  • She'd made some overseas investments as a hedge against rising inflation in this country.

• 2 a word or phrase that makes what you say less strong

• 3 to limit something severely:

  • We've got permission, but it's hedged about/around with strict conditions.

  • Stop hedging and tell me what you really think.

• 4 a line of bushes or small trees planted close together, esp. along the edge of a yard or road

• 5 a means of protection, control, or limitation:

  • She invested in foreign companies as a hedge against inflation.

• 6 to limit something severely:

  • [ T ] Congressmen were warned against hedging their support for the missile program.

  • [ I ] Officials continued to hedge on exactly when the program would begin.

• 7 an investment made in order to reduce the risk of losing money on shares, bonds, etc. that you own, for example, by buying futures (= agreements to sell shares for a particular price at a date in the future) or options (= the rights to buy or sell shares for a particular price within a particular time period):

  • These formulas are devised to tell the bank what kind of hedges to purchase to provide the best possible protection of its assets.

  • a hedge against sth In recent years, investors have also bought gold as a hedge against US dollar weakness.

  • inflation hedges

• 8 to reduce the risk of losing money on shares, bonds, etc. that you own, for example by buying futures (= agreements to sell shares for a particular price at a date in the future) or options (= the rights to buy or sell shares for a particular price within a particular time period):

  • European airports have been attracting investors keen to hedge long-term pension liabilities.

  • We don't tend to hedge at all - in either stock or bond funds.

  • hedge against sth Companies can hedge against currency movements, but many choose not to.

  • hedge risk/exposure Airbus has hedged enough of its dollar exposure that a major short-term impact is unlikely.

• 9 to reduce the risk of failure or of losing money by making sure that you can choose between different possibilities:

  • Some business leaders hedged their bets by donating money to both parties.

  • Futures contracts allow companies in the nuclear sector to hedge their bets against price rises this year, next year or 10 years from now.