hedge [OE] Hedges mark boundaries, but are also a means of protection or defence. The idea of protecting yourself is strong in to hedge your bets [L17th]. In strict betting terms this means putting money on more than one horse in a race, but you can also hedge other financial liabilities, including speculative investments. Originally people would hedge in a bet. This is related to an earlier application of hedge in, in which debts were incorporated into a larger debt for which better security was available. Much more recently, in the 1960s, hedge fund became the term for an offshore investment fund that engages in speculation using credit or borrowed capital.