The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Hedge \Hedge\, n. [OE. hegge, AS. hecg; akin to haga an
   inclosure, E. haw, AS. hege hedge, E. haybote, D. hegge, OHG.
   hegga, G. hecke. [root]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.
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         The roughest berry on the rudest hedge.  --Shak.
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         Through the verdant maze
         Of sweetbrier hedges I pursue my walk.   --Thomson.
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   Note: Hedge, when used adjectively or in composition, often
         means rustic, outlandish, illiterate, poor, or mean;
         as, hedge priest; hedgeborn, etc.
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   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]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Hedge \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.
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   2. To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from
      progress or success; -- sometimes with up and out.
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            I will hedge up thy way with thorns.  --Hos. ii. 6.
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            Lollius Urbius . . . drew another wall . . . to
            hedge out incursions from the north.  --Milton.
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   3. To surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem
      (in). "England, hedged in with the main." --Shak.
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   4. To surround so as to prevent escape.
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            That is a law to hedge in the cuckoo. --Locke.
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   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].
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Hedge \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.
      [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.
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   2. (Betting) To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet
      against the side or chance one has bet on.
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   3. To use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so
      as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite.
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            The Heroic Stanzas read much more like an elaborate
            attempt to hedge between the parties than . . . to
            gain favor from the Roundheads.       --Saintsbury.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

hedge
    n 1: a fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes
         [syn: hedge, hedgerow]
    2: any technique designed to reduce or eliminate financial risk;
       for example, taking two positions that will offset each other
       if prices change [syn: hedge, hedging]
    3: an intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement; "when
       you say `maybe' you are just hedging" [syn: hedge,
       hedging]
    v 1: avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing
         (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she
         skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their
         responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully"
         [syn: hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent,
         parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep]
    2: hinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge; "The animals
       were hedged in"
    3: enclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges;
       "hedge the property" [syn: hedge, hedge in]
    4: minimize loss or risk; "diversify your financial portfolio to
       hedge price risks"; "hedge your bets"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

210 Moby Thesaurus words for "hedge":
   abate, about the bush, adjust to, allowance, alter,
   around the bush, assuage, bar, beat about, beat around,
   beg the question, bicker, boggle, border line, bound, boundary,
   boundary condition, boundary line, bourn, box in, break boundary,
   breakoff point, bulkhead in, cage, calculation, canniness, care,
   careful consideration, carefulness, caution, cautiousness, cavil,
   ceiling, cession, choplogic, circumscribe, circumscription,
   circumspection, clear the decks, compass, concession, condition,
   confine, consider every angle, contain, coop, copyright, corral,
   cutoff, cutoff point, deadline, deliberate stages, deliberateness,
   deliberation, delimitation, determinant, diminish, discipline,
   discretion, division line, dodge, draw the line, duck, end,
   equivocate, evade, evade the issue, exception, exemption,
   extenuating circumstances, extremity, fence, finish, floor,
   forearm, frontier, gingerliness, grain of salt, grant,
   guard against, guardedness, hedge about, hedging, heed,
   heedfulness, hem, hem and haw, hesitation, high-water mark, immure,
   interface, judiciousness, leave out nothing, leaven, limen, limit,
   limitation, limiting factor, line, line of demarcation,
   low-water mark, lower limit, make sure, make sure against, march,
   mark, mental reservation, mete, mew, mindfulness, mitigate,
   moderate, modification, modify, modulate, mystify, narrow, nitpick,
   obscure, overlook no possibility, pale, palisade, palliate, palter,
   parry, patent, pawkiness, pen, pick nits, picket, play safe,
   prepare for, prevaricate, prior consultation, provide a hedge,
   provide against, provide for, prudence, prudentialness, pull away,
   pull back, pussyfoot, put off, qualification, qualify, quibble,
   rail, recoil, reduce, reef down, regardfulness, register,
   regulate by, reservation, restrain, restrict, restriction,
   safeness, safety first, salvo, scant, season, set conditions,
   set limits, sheer off, shift, shift off, shorten sail, shrink,
   shuffle, shy, shy away, shy off, sidestep, slowness to act, soften,
   solicitude, special case, special treatment, specialize,
   specialness, specification, split hairs, start, starting line,
   starting point, step aside, stint, straiten, swerve, take measures,
   take precautions, take steps, target date, temper, tentativeness,
   tergiversate, term, terminal date, terminus, thoroughness,
   threshold, time allotment, uncommunicativeness, unprecipitateness,
   upper limit, waiver, wall, ward off, weasel