Easter egg
Americannoun
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a chicken egg that is dyed and often given a figure or design, or an imitation of such an egg, as an egg-shaped candy or chocolate, used at Easter as a gift or decoration.
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Digital Technology. an extra feature, as a message or video, hidden in a software program, video game, DVD, etc., and revealed as by an obscure sequence of keystrokes or commands.
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Movies, Television. a hidden message, as a cryptic reference, iconic image, or inside joke, that fans are intended to discover in a television show or movie.
noun
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an egg given to children at Easter, usually a chocolate egg or a hen's egg with its shell painted
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a bonus or extra feature hidden inside a website, computer game, or DVD, that is only revealed after repeated or lengthy viewing or playing
Usage
What does Easter egg mean? Easter eggs can refer to candy eggs or eggs decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, and searched for during Easter egg hunts.In popular culture, Easters eggs are text, images, visual gags, jokes, or other content that creators intentionally hide in media for their and their viewers' amusement.
Etymology
Origin of Easter egg
First recorded in 1570–80
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.
Google left the Easter egg following Indiana’s 27-21 victory over Miami in Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026
No, it’s not an intentional Easter egg for “Stranger Things” fans, but there’s a lot of Easter eggs for George fans.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025
A few Swifties have speculated that her newfound passion for sourdough might be an Easter egg pointing to a Super Bowl appearance: Sourdough Sam, the 49ers mascot, the stadium in Santa Clara next February.
From Salon • Aug. 31, 2025
In March, an investigation by Which? found that Easter egg prices had risen by as much as 50% compared with last year.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2025
The houses were painted in Easter egg colors.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
