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]

---

Example Sentences

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

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

At school, Coal took his egg on a bagel and box of chocolate milk to the science lab.

From Literature