"hedge one's bets" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hedges one's bets",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hedging one's bets",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hedged one's bets",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hedged one's bets",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "hedge one's bets"
      },
      "expansion": "hedge one's bets (third-person singular simple present hedges one's bets, present participle hedging one's bets, simple past and past participle hedged one's bets)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "To place bets with a third party in order to offset potential losses."
      ],
      "id": "en-hedge_one's_bets-en-verb-XaZaVEpf",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(bookmaking) To place bets with a third party in order to offset potential losses."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "lay off"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "39 61",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2014 June 24, “Google Glass go on sale in the UK for £1,000”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "Whether Glass will ever become a mass-market product, and smartglasses take off, is still unclear. Google is hedging its bets, however, with its new Android Wear and smartwatch initiative which is expected to be shown off at Google’s I/O developer conference in San Francisco later this week.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Tim Mackintosh-Smith translating Ahmad ibn Rustah, Travels with a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah",
          "text": "He prayed on Fridays with the Muslims, on Saturdays with the Jews and on Sundays with the Christians. 'Since each religion claims that it is the only true one and that the others are invalid', the king explained, 'I have decided to hedge my bets'.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 August 23, Mel Holley, “Network News: Northern begins the search for DMU replacements...”, in RAIL, number 990, page 6",
          "text": "At this stage, Northern is hedging its bets as to the power source it wants.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reduce the risk of making a mistake, by keeping one's options open."
      ],
      "id": "en-hedge_one's_bets-en-verb-oobnys-z",
      "links": [
        [
          "making a mistake",
          "make a mistake"
        ],
        [
          "keeping one's options open",
          "keep one's options open"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To reduce the risk of making a mistake, by keeping one's options open."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "19 81",
          "alt": "かけをヘッジする",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "kake o hejji-suru",
          "sense": "to curtail risk by avoiding commitment",
          "word": "賭けをヘッジする"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hedge one's bets"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hedges one's bets",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hedging one's bets",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hedged one's bets",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hedged one's bets",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "head": "hedge one's bets"
      },
      "expansion": "hedge one's bets (third-person singular simple present hedges one's bets, present participle hedging one's bets, simple past and past participle hedged one's bets)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "To place bets with a third party in order to offset potential losses."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(bookmaking) To place bets with a third party in order to offset potential losses."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "lay off"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2014 June 24, “Google Glass go on sale in the UK for £1,000”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "Whether Glass will ever become a mass-market product, and smartglasses take off, is still unclear. Google is hedging its bets, however, with its new Android Wear and smartwatch initiative which is expected to be shown off at Google’s I/O developer conference in San Francisco later this week.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Tim Mackintosh-Smith translating Ahmad ibn Rustah, Travels with a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah",
          "text": "He prayed on Fridays with the Muslims, on Saturdays with the Jews and on Sundays with the Christians. 'Since each religion claims that it is the only true one and that the others are invalid', the king explained, 'I have decided to hedge my bets'.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 August 23, Mel Holley, “Network News: Northern begins the search for DMU replacements...”, in RAIL, number 990, page 6",
          "text": "At this stage, Northern is hedging its bets as to the power source it wants.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reduce the risk of making a mistake, by keeping one's options open."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "making a mistake",
          "make a mistake"
        ],
        [
          "keeping one's options open",
          "keep one's options open"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To reduce the risk of making a mistake, by keeping one's options open."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "alt": "かけをヘッジする",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "kake o hejji-suru",
      "sense": "to curtail risk by avoiding commitment",
      "word": "賭けをヘッジする"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hedge one's bets"
}