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Glite Dictionary
to hedge one's bets

to hedge one's bets

8 6.8
To avoid losing by choosing more than one option
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : cubrirse las espaldas
  • As the election approached, the candidate decided to hedge his bets by appealing to both conservative and liberal voters.

Examples

  • In fact, allowing the ICC to mature independently while formally remaining outside the treaty structure is one good way for the United States to hedge its bets while maintaining NATO unity and exercising military leadership.

    Academic text (1998)

  • For various automakers, they're hedging their bets and working on the possibility of supporting multiple charging standards.

    Blog text (11)

  • Why not simply hedge one's bets with what is better known?

    Academic text (2013)

  • "I wanted to hedge my bets.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Smith and Gee tried to hedge their bets a little based on what happened in the past.

    Blog text (27)

  • However, the United States has been hedging its bets on China.

    Blog text (29)

  • I wouldn't hedge my bets on that horse if I were you.

    Blog text (5)

  • Like any good gambler, Fields hedged his bets.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Like all shrewd politicians, he, too, had been hedging his bets.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Militarily, the United States is hedging its bets with the most extensive realignment of U.S. power in half a century.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

to play it safe
vsto hedge one's bets
42 3.4

Choose a careful option to avoid risks

spreads protection across several paths instead of one cautious choice
to hedge
vsto hedge one's bets
  • Specialized
20 6.7

To protect against financial loss by taking opposite investments

relies on backing more than one possibility instead of single compensations
to hedge in one's options
vsto hedge one's bets
7.4

To protect yourself from losing money by choosing different plans or investments

is broader, applying across situations not only in finance

Antonyms

to be a gamble
7 5.4

Has a risk because the result is not certain

How Protected

to insure
104 3.5
to hedge one's bets
  • Informal
8 6.8
to diversify
63 5.3

Surface Forms

hedge one's bets infinitive
hedged one's bets past
hedged one's bets past participle
hedging one's bets present participle
hedges one's bets third person singular

Morphology

hedge + one's + bet

If a learner knows 'hedge' as taking actions to reduce risk and 'bet' as a wager or choice, they can infer that 'hedge one's bets' means protecting oneself against loss by spreading or limiting risk. However, the expression relies on a metaphorical extension (protecting "bets" rather than literal bets) and is somewhat idiomatic in broader uses, so the relation is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Hedge one's bets comes from the idea of a hedge as a small protective fence and from gambling, where people make extra bets on different outcomes to limit their loss. So, it means 'to protect yourself by supporting more than one possibility'.