egg

[ eg ]

/ ɛg /

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See synonyms for: egg / eggs on Thesaurus.com

noun

the roundish reproductive body produced by the female of certain animals, as birds and most reptiles, consisting of an ovum and its envelope of albumen, jelly, membranes, egg case, or shell, according to species.

such a body produced by a domestic bird, especially the hen.

the contents of an egg or eggs: raw egg;fried eggs.

anything resembling a hen's egg.

Also called egg cell . the female gamete; ovum.

Informal. person: He's a good egg.

Slang. an aerial bomb.

verb (used with object)

to prepare (food) by dipping in beaten egg.

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Idioms about egg

egg on one's face, Informal. humiliation or embarrassment resulting from having said or done something foolish or unwise: They were afraid to back the losing candidate and wind up with egg on their faces.

lay an egg, Informal. to fail wretchedly, especially to be unsuccessful in front of an audience: He laid an egg as the romantic hero.

put all one's eggs in one basket, to venture all of something that one possesses in a single enterprise.

walk on eggs, to walk or act very cautiously.

Origin of egg

First recorded before 900; Middle English eg(ge), fromOld Norse egg; replacing Middle English ey, aig,Old English ǣg, German Ei; akin to Latin ōvum, Greek ōión “egg”

how to pronounce egg

Egg, like beg, leg, and other words where “short e” precedes a “hard g” sound, is pronounced with the vowel

[e] /ɛ/ of bet and let, except in parts of New England and the South Midland and southern U.S., where these words are frequently said with

[-eyg], /-eɪg/, to rhyme with vague and plague, especially in the speech of the less educated. This raising of

[e] /ɛ/ to a higher vowel

[ey], /eɪ/, articulated with the upper surface of the tongue closer to the palate, also occurs before

[zh], /ʒ/, as in measure, pleasure, and treasure.

OTHER WORDS FROM egg

eggless, adjectiveeggy, adjective

Other definitions for egg (2 of 2)

egg²

[ eg ]

/ ɛg /

verb (used with object)

to incite or urge; encourage (usually followed by on).

Origin of egg

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English eggen, from Old Norse eggja “to incite, urge on,” derivative of egg edge

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use egg in a sentence

Putting all of our eggs in a single basket exposes our vaccination process to the potential for what we in the military call a single point of failure risk.
We can’t rely on just one company to distribute COVID vaccines|jakemeth|November 20, 2020|Fortune
Not his own life, though—the male is helping to ensure his species’ survival by fertilizing his female companion’s eggs as she lays them.
These Photos Remind Us Why Conservation Matters - Issue 92: Frontiers|Kevin Berger|November 11, 2020|Nautilus
The process involved obtaining separate eggs from a female donor and fertilizing one of them from John’s sperm and the other from Yaroslav’s sperm through a laboratory in vitro fertilization process.
Husband’s tragic death leaves D.C. man to raise 4 young children alone|Lou Chibbaro Jr.|November 11, 2020|Washington Blade
We can fry an egg or we can write a blog post or we can dance or sing.
Podcast: Can you teach a machine common sense?|Anthony Green|November 11, 2020|MIT Technology Review

For breakfast, it might be served with a fried egg, while for lunch and dinner it’s a side to meat or fish.
Everything You Need to Know About Costa Rican Food|Nicholas Gill|November 11, 2020|Eater
After the egging incident, Nick Jonas barely concealed his harsh judgment of Bieber when tweeting about the incident.
13 Celebrities Who Dissed Justin Bieber|Kevin Fallon|August 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The egging happened on January 9, causing a staggering $20,000 in damages.
Inside the Justin Bieber Raid (and the Impromptu ‘Belieb’ Egg Hunt)|The Daily Beast|January 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I love the interactions with readers, especially on Twitter, even with the people egging me toward auto-proctology.
Jack Germond and the Old Days|Michael Tomasky|August 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
So instead of restraining their belligerent allies, the Chinese seem to be egging them on.
‘The State of War’—Kim Jong-un’s Bombastic, and Ominous, Bluster|Gordon G. Chang|March 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Guardian newspaper, in particular, appears to be egging him on in the tone and extent of its coverage.
What Does Julian Assange Want?|Tunku Varadarajan|July 28, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The two chief bears rush at the Master and the other bears jostle round them, egging them on.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, April 28, 1920|Various
The girl glanced excitedly round the room, and felt the old presence egging her on.
The Open Question|Elizabeth Robins
And will not France have a glorious time of it; playing master of the revels there, egging one against the other!
History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XII. (of XXI.)|Thomas Carlyle
A cheap and excellent dish is made by filleting the tail of cod, egging and crumbing the pieces and frying them.
Nelson's Home Comforts|Mary Hooper
Egging raw youths on to get in the know all the time drawing secret service pay from the castle.
Ulysses|James Joyce

British Dictionary definitions for egg (1 of 2)

egg¹

/ (ɛɡ) /

noun

the oval or round reproductive body laid by the females of birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, and some other animals, consisting of a developing embryo, its food store, and sometimes jelly or albumen, all surrounded by an outer shell or membrane

Also called: egg cell any female gamete; ovum

the egg of the domestic hen used as food

something resembling an egg, esp in shape or in being in an early stage of development

bad egg old-fashioned, informal

a bad person
an exclamation of dismay

good egg old-fashioned, informal

a good person
an exclamation of delight

lay an egg slang, mainly US and Canadian

to make a joke or give a performance, etc, that fails completely
(of a joke, performance, etc) to fail completely; flop

put all one's eggs in one basket or have all one's eggs in one basket to stake everything on a single venture

teach one's grandmother to suck eggs to presume to teach someone something that he knows already

with egg on one's face informal made to look ridiculous

verb (tr)

to dip (food) in beaten egg before cooking

US informal to throw eggs at

Word Origin for egg

C14: from Old Norse egg; related to Old English ǣg, Old High German ei

British Dictionary definitions for egg (2 of 2)

egg²

/ (ɛɡ) /

verb

(tr usually foll by on) to urge or incite, esp to daring or foolish acts

Word Origin for egg

Old English eggian, from Old Norse eggja to urge; related to Old English ecg edge, Middle Low German eggen to harrow

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for egg

egg

[ ĕg ]

The larger, usually nonmotile female reproductive cell of most organisms that reproduce sexually. Eggs are haploid (they have half the number of chromosomes as the other cells in the organism's body). During fertilization, the nucleus of an egg cell fuses with the nucleus of a sperm cell (the male reproductive cell) to form a new diploid organism. In animals, eggs are spherical, covered by a membrane, and usually produced by the ovaries. In some simple aquatic animals, eggs are fertilized and develop outside the body. In some terrestrial animals, such as insects, reptiles and birds, eggs are fertilized inside the body but are incubated outside the body, protected by durable, waterproof membranes (shells) until the young hatch. In mammals, eggs produced in the ovaries are fertilized inside the body and (except in the cases of monotremes) develop in the reproductive tract until birth. The human female fetus possesses all of the eggs that she will ever have; every month after the onset of puberty, one of these eggs matures and is released from the ovary into the fallopian tube, where it is either fertilized or discarded during menstruation. In many plants (such as the bryophytes, ferns, and gymnosperms) eggs are produced by flasked-shaped structures known as archegonia. In gymnosperms and angiosperms, eggs are enclosed within ovules. In angiosperms, the ovules are enclosed within ovaries. See also oogenesis.

In many animals, a structure consisting of this reproductive cell together with nutrients and often a protective covering. The embryo develops within this structure if the reproductive cell is fertilized. The egg is often laid outside the body, but the female of ovoviviparous species may keep it inside the body until after hatching.

Cultural definitions for egg

egg

A female gamete.

Other Idioms and Phrases with egg

egg

In addition to the idioms beginning with egg

egg in your beer
egg on
egg on one's face, have

also see:

bad egg
good egg
goose egg
kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
lay an egg
put all one's eggs in one basket
walk on eggs

egg

Idioms about egg

Origin of egg

how to pronounce egg

OTHER WORDS FROM egg

Other definitions for egg (2 of 2)

Origin of egg

Words related to egg

How to use egg in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for egg (1 of 2)

Word Origin for egg

British Dictionary definitions for egg (2 of 2)

Word Origin for egg

Scientific definitions for egg

Cultural definitions for egg

Other Idioms and Phrases with egg