Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Hedge
Hedge
,Noun.
[OE.
hegge
, AS. hecg
; akin to haga
an inclosure, E. haw
, AS. hege
hedge, E. hay
bote, 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.
The roughest berry on the rudest
hedge
. Shakespeare
Through the verdant maze
Of sweetbrier
Of sweetbrier
hedges
I pursue my walk. Thomson.
☞ Hedge, when used adjectively or in composition, often means rustic, outlandish, illiterate, poor, or mean; as, hedge priest; hedgeborn, etc.
Hedge bells
,
Hedge bindweed
(Bot.)
, a climbing plant related to the morning-glory (
– Convolvulus sepium
). Hedge bill
, a long-handled billhook.
– Hedge garlic
(Bot.)
, – 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.
Hedge
,Verb.
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 garden2.
To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; – sometimes with up and out.
I will
hedge
up thy way with thorns. Hos. ii. 6.
Lollius Urbius . . . drew another wall . . . to
hedge
out incursions from the north. Milton.
3.
To surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem (in).
“England, hedged in with the main.” Shak.
4.
To surround so as to prevent escape.
That is a law to
hedge
in the cuckoo. Locke.
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}.
Hedge
,Verb.
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.
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. Shakespeare
2.
(Betting)
To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on.
3.
To use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite.
The Heroic Stanzas read much more like an elaborate attempt to
hedge
between the parties than . . . to gain favor from the Roundheads. Saintsbury.
Webster 1828 Edition
Hedge
HEDGE
,Noun.
hej.
Hedge, prefixed to another word, or in composition, denotes something mean, as a hedge-priest, a hedge-press, a hedge-vicar, that is, born in or belonging to the hedges or woods, low, outlandish. [Not used in American.]
HEDGE
,Verb.
T.
hej.
1.
To obstruct with a hedge, or to obstruct in any manner. I will hedge up thy way with thorns. Hos.2.
2.
To surround for defense; to fortify. England hedged in with the main.
3.
To inclose for preventing escape. That is a law to hedge in the cuckow.
Dryden, Swift and Shakespeare have written hedge, for edge, to edge in, but improperly.
HEDGE
,Verb.
I.
hej.