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

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

To mix it up, served with a fried egg on top and - voila - you have a croque madame.

From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025

Whip up pappa al pomodoro and slide a poached egg on top like a wink.

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2025

Executives at UnitedHealth Group had egg on their faces on Tuesday morning.

From Slate ● May 14, 2025

“Did you roll an egg on my face like that when / was born?”

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston