lay an egg

Cultural  

1. To fail, or to have one's efforts fall flat: “Jim tried to tell a few jokes, but each time he forgot the punch line and laid an egg.”

---

lay an egg Idioms  

1. Fail, especially in a public performance; make a humiliating error. For example, Carol really laid an egg last night when she forgot her lines, or, as Variety had it in October 1929: “Wall Street Lays An Egg.” The term originated in the late 1800s in vaudeville and was extended to nontheatrical failures in the early 1900s.

---

Example Sentences

One of these is called a "brood ball," where they lay an egg in each ball, after they have buried it.

From Science Daily • Mar. 1, 2024

Rams 24, Seahawks 21: The consensus seems to be that the desperate Seahawks won’t lay an egg against the 5-11 Rams at home.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 6, 2023

On Thursday night, the Suns had a chance to send the Mavericks home for the summer, only to lay an egg.

From New York Times • May 13, 2022

"Fourteen-point favorites. Go down to Jacksonville to punch our ticket into the playoffs and absolutely lay an egg," Saturday groaned during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up.

From Fox News • Jan. 12, 2022

“Lay an egg, lay an egg, lay an egg!” her brothers teased as they watched her sink low, knees akimbo.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• enact
• perform
• play
• portray