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PlainSpell

hedge

/ˈhɛd͡ʒ/noun, verb

hedge is spelled H-E-D-G-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hedge means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hedge is hedges.

How many letters and syllables are in hedge?

Letters5: H-E-D-G-E
Syllables1
In writing5.5 times per million words; the 10,519th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is hedge?

Hedge appears 5.5 times per million words in written English, the 10,519th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce hedge?

  • US /ˈhɛd͡ʒ/
  • Australia /ˈhed͡ʒ/
  • /ˈhe̝d͡ʒ/

Hedge has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hedge.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hedge.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with hedge?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hedge from its last stressed vowel (/ɛdʒ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of hedge

  • hedges plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • hedging participle, present
  • hedged participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does hedge mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    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.

    He trims the hedge once a week.

  2. 2

    A barrier (often consisting of a line of persons or objects) to protect someone or something from harm.

  3. 3

    UKA mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, often topped with bushes, used as a fence between any two portions of land.

  4. 4

    A noncommittal or intentionally ambiguous statement.

  5. 5

    Contract or arrangement reducing one's exposure to risk (for example the risk of price movements or interest rate movements).

    The asset class acts as a hedge.

  6. 6

    IrelandUKWith indication of a person's upbringing, or professional activities, taking place by the side of the road; being third-rate, poor, shoddy.

    He then traced them from place to place, till at last he found two of them drinking together, with a third person, at a hedge-tavern near Aldersgate.

verb

  1. 1

    To enclose with a hedge or hedges.

    to hedge a field or garden

  2. 2

    To obstruct or surround.

  3. 3

    To offset the risk associated with.

  4. 4

    To avoid verbal commitment.

    He carefully hedged his statements with weasel words.

  5. 5

    To construct or repair a hedge.

  6. 6

    To reduce one's exposure to risk.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Hedge in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchhaie (thicket of bushes planted in a row), couverture de risque (finance: contract or arrangement reducing…)
GermanHecke (thicket of bushes planted in a row), Heckenausdruck, Weichzeichner (linguistics: a noncommittal or intentionally…)
Portuguesesebe, cerca viva (thicket of bushes planted in a row), cobertura de risco (finance: contract or arrangement reducing…)
Spanishseto vivo, cerco vivo, sebe (thicket of bushes planted in a row), cobertura, protección, resguardo (finance: contract or arrangement reducing…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does hedge come from?

From Middle English hegge, from Old English heċġ, from Proto-West Germanic *haggju, from Proto-Germanic *hagjō, from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (“enclosure”). Cognate with Dutch heg, German Hecke. Doublet of hey (a choreographic figure) and quay. More at haw.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after hedge