n. [ OE. hegge, AS. hecg; akin to haga an inclosure, E. haw, AS. hege hedge, E. haybote, D. hegge, OHG. hegga, G. hecke. √12. See Haw a hedge. ] A thicket of bushes, usually thorn bushes; especially, such a thicket planted as a fence between any two portions of land; and also any sort of shrubbery, as evergreens, planted in a line or as a fence; particularly, such a thicket planted round a field to fence it, or in rows to separate the parts of a garden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The roughest berry on the rudest hedge. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Through the verdant maze
Of sweetbrier hedges I pursue my walk. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Hedge, when used adjectively or in composition, often means rustic, outlandish, illiterate, poor, or mean; as, hedge priest; hedgeborn, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hedge bells,
Hedge bindweed (Bot.), a climbing plant related to the morning-glory (Convolvulus sepium). --
Hedge bill, a long-handled billhook. --
Hedge garlic (Bot.), a plant of the genus Alliaria. See Garlic mustard, under Garlic. --
Hedge hyssop (Bot.), a bitter herb of the genus Gratiola, the leaves of which are emetic and purgative. --
Hedge marriage, a secret or clandestine marriage, especially one performed by a hedge priest. [ Eng. ] --
Hedge mustard (Bot.), a plant of the genus Sisymbrium, belonging to the Mustard family. --
Hedge nettle (Bot.), an herb, or under shrub, of the genus Stachys, belonging to the Mint family. It has a nettlelike appearance, though quite harmless. --
Hedge note. (a) The note of a hedge bird. (b) Low, contemptible writing. [ Obs. ] Dryden. --
Hedge priest, a poor, illiterate priest. Shak. --
Hedge school, an open-air school in the shelter of a hedge, in Ireland; a school for rustics. --
Hedge sparrow (Zool.), a European warbler (Accentor modularis) which frequents hedges. Its color is reddish brown, and ash; the wing coverts are tipped with white. Called also chanter, hedge warbler, dunnock, and doney. --
Hedge writer, an insignificant writer, or a writer of low, scurrilous stuff. [ Obs. ] Swift. --
To breast up a hedge. See under Breast. --
To hang in the hedge, to be at a standstill. “While the business of money hangs in the hedge.” Pepys. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Hedged p. pr. & vb. n. Hedging. ] 1. To inclose or separate with a hedge; to fence with a thickly set line or thicket of shrubs or small trees; as, to hedge a field or garden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; -- sometimes with up and out. [ 1913 Webster ]

I will hedge up thy way with thorns. Hos. ii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lollius Urbius . . . drew another wall . . . to hedge out incursions from the north. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem (in). “England, hedged in with the main.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To surround so as to prevent escape. [ 1913 Webster ]

That is a law to hedge in the cuckoo. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To protect oneself against excessive loss in an activity by taking a countervailing action; as, to hedge an investment denominated in a foreign currency by buying or selling futures in that currency; to hedge a donation to one political party by also donating to the opposed political party. [ PJC ]

To hedge a bet, to bet upon both sides; that is, after having bet on one side, to bet also on the other, thus guarding against loss. See hedge{ 5 }. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To shelter one's self from danger, risk, duty, responsibility, etc., as if by hiding in or behind a hedge; to skulk; to slink; to shirk obligations. [ 1913 Webster ]

I myself sometimes, leaving the fear of God on the left hand and hiding mine honor in my necessity, am fain to shuffle, to hedge and to lurch. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Betting) To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Heroic Stanzas read much more like an elaborate attempt to hedge between the parties than . . . to gain favor from the Roundheads. Saintsbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Born under a hedge; of low birth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Eng. Law) Same as Haybote. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. [ p. p. from hedge, v. i. { 3 }. ] qualified; limited or restricted; as, a hedged promise.
Syn. -- weasel-worded. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Finance) a mutual fund or partnership of investors who pool large sums of money to speculate in securities, increasing the risk of such activity by using borrowed money to leverage the investments, or by selling short. [ PJC ]

n. 1. (Zool.) A small European insectivore (Erinaceus Europaeus), and other allied species of Asia and Africa, having the hair on the upper part of its body mixed with prickles or spines. It is able to roll itself into a ball so as to present the spines outwardly in every direction. It is nocturnal in its habits, feeding chiefly upon insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The Canadian porcupine.[ U.S ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) A species of Medicago (Medicago intertexta), the pods of which are armed with short spines; -- popularly so called. Loudon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A form of dredging machine. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Elec.) A variety of transformer with open magnetic circuit, the ends of the iron wire core being turned outward and presenting a bristling appearance, whence the name. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

6. (Mil.) a defensive obstacle having pointed barbs extending outward, such as one composed of crossed logs with barbed wire wound around them, or a tangle of steel beams embedded in concrete used to impede or damage landing craft on a beach; also, a position well-fortified with such defensive obstacles. [ PJC ]

Hedgehog caterpillar (Zool.), the hairy larvae of several species of bombycid moths, as of the Isabella moth. It curls up like a hedgehog when disturbed. See Woolly bear, and Isabella moth. --
Hedgehog fish (Zool.), any spinose plectognath fish, esp. of the genus Diodon; the porcupine fish. --
Hedgehog grass (Bot.), a grass with spiny involucres, growing on sandy shores; burgrass (Cenchrus tribuloides). --
Hedgehog rat (Zool.), one of several West Indian rodents, allied to the porcupines, but with ratlike tails, and few quills, or only stiff bristles. The hedgehog rats belong to Capromys, Plagiodon, and allied genera. --
Hedgehog shell (Zool.), any spinose, marine, univalve shell of the genus Murex. --
Hedgehog thistle (Bot.), a plant of the Cactus family, globular in form, and covered with spines (Echinocactus). --
Sea hedgehog. See Diodon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having no hedge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A young hedgehog. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]