hedgehedge2 verb [intransitiveI, transitiveT]1FINANCE if you hedge a financial risk, you protect yourself against it, for example with FUTURES (=agreements to buy or sell currencies etc on a fixed date in the future at a fixed price) or OPTIONs (=rights to buy or sell currencies etc at a particular price within a particular period of time or on a particular date in the future)I’ve never hedged currencies before. But I could see the dollar was getting lower, and I hedged for the first time, betting that the dollar would rise.
Northwest Airlines saved more than $7 million in fuel costs because it hedged 4.2 million gallons of its fuel purchases for each month by buying futures contracts.
—hedging noun [uncountableU]Manufacturers have been doing more hedging because they expect prices for copper to rise.
sophisticated currency hedging techniques
2hedge your bets to reduce your chances of failure or loss by having several choices available to youPromoters, uncertain whether losing weight was going to stay popular, hedged their bets by advertising that their products could help you add weight or reduce it.