to do something to lessen the risk of something happening; to bet against something bad happening. I want to hedge against something going wrong in the stock market, so I have bonds in my portfolio, too.We will hedge against any risk we can detect.
Fig. to protect investments against a decline in value by making counterbalancing bets or investments. The investor hedged his portfolio against a drop in stock prices by buying some bonds.I have to hedge my bets against losing.