The expression âcoffee breakâ was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
HEDGE
hedge, hedgerow
(noun) a fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes
hedge, hedging
(noun) an intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement; âwhen you say âmaybeâ you are just hedgingâ
hedge, hedging
(noun) any technique designed to reduce or eliminate financial risk; for example, taking two positions that will offset each other if prices change
hedge
(verb) minimize loss or risk; âdiversify your financial portfolio to hedge price risksâ; âhedge your betsâ
hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep
(verb) avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); âHe dodged the issueâ; âshe skirted the problemâ; âThey tend to evade their responsibilitiesâ; âhe evaded the questions skillfullyâ
hedge, hedge in
(verb) enclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges; âhedge the propertyâ
hedge
(verb) hinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge; âThe animals were hedged inâ
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Noun
hedge (plural hedges)
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.
A barrier (often consisting of a line of persons or objects) to protect someone or something from harm.
(UK, West Country, mainly, 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.
(pragmatics) A non-committal or intentionally ambiguous statement.
Coordinate term: weasel word
(finance) Contract or arrangement reducing one's exposure to risk (for example the risk of price movements or interest rate movements).
(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.
Etymology 2
Verb
hedge (third-person singular simple present hedges, present participle hedging, simple past and past participle hedged)
(transitive) To enclose with a hedge or hedges.
(transitive) To obstruct or surround.
(transitive, finance) To offset the risk associated with.
(ambitransitive) To avoid verbal commitment.
(intransitive) To construct or repair a hedge.
(intransitive, finance) To reduce one's exposure to risk.
Anagrams
• Ghede, Hegde
Proper noun
Hedge (plural Hedges)
A surname.
Statistics
• According to the 2010 United States Census, Hedge is the 8641st most common surname in the United States, belonging to 3805 individuals. Hedge is most common among White (84.7%) individuals.
Anagrams
• Ghede, Hegde
Source: Wiktionary
Hedge, n. Etym: [OE. hegge, AS. hecg; akin to haga an inclosure, E. haw, AS. hege hedge, E. haybote, D. hegge, OHG. hegga, G. hecke. sq. root12. See Haw a hedge.]
Definition: 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. Shak. Through the verdant maze Of sweetbrier hedges I pursue my walk. Thomson.
Note: 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.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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, 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.
2. 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.
Hedge, 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. 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.
2. (Betting)
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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