egg on
To encourage or coax (a person) to do something, especially something foolhardy or reckless.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Stop egging him on — he will regret it later.”
“The crowd kept egging the driver on until he agreed to race.”
“Though she knew it was unwise, her friends egged her on, and she found herself standing on the edge of the diving board at midnight.”
From Middle English *eggen*, meaning to incite or instigate, from the Old Norse *eggja*. The root is derived from *egg*, or edge, and survives as a variant of the now archaic phrase to edge on.
- 01
a wild goose never laid a tame egg
Most things are inherited and predetermined.
- 02
bad egg
Someone whose behaviour is reprehensible or irresponsible; a rogue.
- 03
borrow and beg
[Cockney slang]egg
- 04
curate's egg
A thing which has good and bad parts, but is overall spoiled by the bad.
- 05
good egg
A good person, someone to be trusted; a friend.
- 06
lay an egg
To produce a failure or flop; to do something which is unsuccessful.
- 07
rotten egg
A person who is the latest, the last, or the slowest in a group to arrive somewhere or to perform a certain task.
Last updated August 10, 2026