Dictionary

hedgerow en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈhɛd͡ʒɹəʊ/

Etymology

From Middle English heggerowe, heggerewe, heggerawe, from Old English *heċġrāw, *heċġrǣw (attested only as Old English heġerǣwe, heġerēwe (“hedgerow”)), equivalent to hedge + row.

Meanings

1. A row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge.
   • The original ditches were created by digging trenches, as boundaries and/or irrigation. But to the English, the ditch is the trench. Whereas in Ireland, the ditch is the raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top. (As for the trench, where I come from that’s a sheugh). 2013 October 31, Frank McNally, “When Anglophone lines get crossed”, in The Irish Times, Dublin: Irish Times Trust, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2021:
   • If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now, it's just a spring clean for the may queen 1971, Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”:
   • In fact, a railway lined with hedgerows and shrubs would be perfect for reliability and biodiversity. Hawthorn, for example, can take a good cut and grow back strongly, while still providing shelter for creatures and acting as a natural fence line. 2025 October 1, Dr Neil Strong, “Managing linesides”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 15:
   • He had a suit of summer mufti, and a broad-brimmed blue beaver hat looped with leaves broken from the hedgerows in the lanes, and a Leander scarf tucked full of flowers: loosestrife, meadowrue, orchis, ragged-robin. 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 91

Forms

Coordinates

windbreak · fencerow · shelterbelt

Deriveds

hedgerowless · hedgerow jelly · hedgerowed

Translations (13)

cy gwrych (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · ca tanca viva (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · pdt Hakj (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · gd callaid (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · sv buskrad (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · gl sebe (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · es seto (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · fo runnagirðing (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · sv häck (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · fr haie (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · de Hecke (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · ca bardissa (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge) · fi pensasaita (a row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge)