Synonyms

egg on

Idioms

Incite, urge ahead, provoke, as in Jack is always egging me on to drive faster, or Seemingly quiet, Margo actually eggs on Donald to quarrel with his staff. This expression has nothing to do with hen's eggs but comes from an Old Norse word, eggja, “to edge.” Both edge on and egg on were used interchangeably, but today the latter is preferred. [c. 1200]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Jackie laid an egg on Tuesday afternoon, offering new hope for babies this year after a previous clutch was eaten by ravens.

From Los Angeles Times

“Look at that goose egg on his head,” another voice said.

From Literature

Then he placed the egg on top of it.

From Literature

They can be contracted by touching objects or surfaces with worm eggs on them, and by eating or drinking something with baby worms in it - such as under-cooked beef, pork or freshwater fish.

From BBC

Edwin and Luna, who sell eggs on one of the corners of 26th Street, say street vendors come out less frequently - and for shorter periods.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023