hedge

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 quay. More at haw.

noun

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. A barrier (often consisting of a line of persons or objects) to protect someone or something from harm.
3. (UK, West Country, chiefly Devon and Cornwall) A mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, often topped with bushes, used as a fence between any two portions of land.
4. (pragmatics) A non-committal 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. 2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 487
5. (finance) 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.
   A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses/gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. In simple language, a hedge is used to reduce any substantial losses/gains suffered by an individual or an organization.
6. (UK, Ireland, noun adjunct) Used attributively, with figurative indication of a person's upbringing, or professional activities, taking place by the side of the road; third-rate.
   He then traced them from place to place, till at last he found two of them drinking together, with a third person, at a hedge-tavern near Aldersgate. , Folio Society 1973, p.639
   This particular wheelwright is only a hedge carpenter, without even a shop of his own,[…]. 1899, Henry Rider Haggard, A Farmer's Year: Being His Commonplace Book for 1898, page 222

Etymology 2

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

verb

1. (transitive) To enclose with a hedge or hedges.
   to hedge a field or garden
2. (transitive) To obstruct or surround.
3. (transitive, finance) To offset the risk associated with.
4. (transitive, intransitive) To avoid verbal commitment.
   He carefully hedged his statements with weasel words.
5. (intransitive) To construct or repair a hedge.
6. (intransitive, finance) To reduce one's exposure to risk.