egg on

Idioms  

1. 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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

egg on

Cyber security Professor Alan Woodward from Surrey University told reporters OpenAI had "egg on it's face", and Katie Moussouris from Luta Security went further, suggesting the AI industry is failing to control its dangerous inventions.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

In the comment section, one fan replied to egg on the content creator, “Yes, tell us what happened with Alex Cooper thank you.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026

Enter my dummy-simple version: I start the rice cooker before taking my dog, Otto out, and when I return, I spoon a bit into a small bowl and slide a quick over-easy egg on top.

From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2026

The retired farmer had queued up on November 29 at a launch of Bardella's new book in the southern town of Moissac, squashing an egg on his head when he reached him.

From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026

It was, like its name suggested, shaped like an egg on its side.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega