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egg1

Pronunciation: /ɛg/
Translate egg | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of egg

noun

  • 1an oval or round object laid by a female bird, reptile, fish, or invertebrate, usually containing a developing embryo. The eggs of birds are enclosed in a chalky shell, while those of reptiles are in a leathery membrane.
  • an infertile bird’s egg, especially one from a chicken, used for food: scrambled eggs [mass noun]:egg and bacon [as modifier]:an egg sandwich
  • a thing resembling a bird’s egg in shape:chocolate eggs
  • 2 Biology the female reproductive cell in animals and plants; an ovum.
  • 3 Architecture a decorative oval moulding, used alternately with triangular shapes: [as modifier]:egg and dart moulding
  • 4 [with adjective] informal, dated a person of a specified kind:the biography portrays him as a thoroughly bad egg

Phrases

don't put all your eggs in one basket

proverb don’t risk everything on the success of one venture: we need to be more tactical and not put all our eggs in one political basket

go suck an egg

[as imperative] North American informal used as an expression of anger or scorn.

kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

destroy a reliable and valuable source of income: high taxes kill the goose that lays the golden eggs
[with allusion to one of Aesop's fables]

lay an egg

North American informal be completely unsuccessful.

with egg on one's face

informal appearing foolish or ridiculous:don’t underestimate this team, or you’ll be left with egg on your face

Derivatives

eggless

adjective

Origin:

Middle English (superseding earlier ey, from Old English ǣg): from Old Norse

egg in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of egg in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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