hedger

US: (hej′ər)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

hedg•er  (hej′ər), n. 

1. a person who makes or repairs hedges.
2. a person who hedges in betting, speculating, etc.

• 1250–1300; Middle English (in surnames); see hedge, -er¹

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

hedge /hɛdʒ/   n., v., hedged, hedg•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. Botany a row of bushes or small trees forming a fence or boundary.
2. an act or means of protecting oneself against unexpected occurrences:
   bought gold as a hedge against inflation.
3. a statement that does not commit the speaker too deeply or does not answer a question directly.

v. 

4. to enclose with or separate by a hedge:
   [~ + object] They hedged their garden.
5. to confine or restrict as if with a hedge:
   [~ + object] felt hedged in by all the rules.
6. to protect or lessen the bad effects of a possible loss by favoring or supporting more than one side:
   [~ + object] hedged his investments by buying many different stocks.
7. [no object] to refuse to answer a question directly.

hedg•er, n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

hedge  (hej), n., v., hedged, hedg•ing. 
n. 

1. Botany 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. Business [Finance.] to enter transactions that will protect against loss through a compensatory price movement.

• bef. 900; Middle English, Old English hegge; cognate with Dutch heg, German Hecke hedge, Old Norse heggr bird cherry

hedge′less, adj. 
Synonyms

• 9. evade, stall, delay, temporize, waffle.