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.
2.
such a body produced by a domestic bird, esp. the hen.
3.
the contents of an egg or eggs: raw egg; fried eggs.
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.
10.
lay an egg, Informal. to fail wretchedly, esp. to be unsuccessful in front of an audience: He laid an egg as the romantic hero.
11.
put all one's eggs in one basket, to venture all of something that one possesses in a single enterprise.
12.
walk on eggs, to walk or act very cautiously.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME < ON; r. ME ey, OE ǣg, G Ei egg; akin to L ōvum, Gk ōión egg]
—Related forms
eggless, adjective
eggy, adjective
—Pronunciation note Egg, like beg, leg, and other words where “short e” precedes a “hard g” sound, is pronounced with the vowel Audio Help/ɛ/Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[e]Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciationof bet and let, except in parts of New England and the South Midland and southern U.S., where these words are frequently said with Audio Help/-eɪg/[-eyg], to rhyme with vague and plague, especially in the speech of the less educated. This raising of Audio Help/ɛ/[e]to a higher vowel Audio Help/eɪ/[ey], articulated with the upper surface of the tongue closer to the palate, also occurs before Audio Help/ʒ/[zh], as in measure, pleasure, and treasure.
The round or oval female reproductive body of various animals, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and insects, consisting usually of an embryo surrounded by nutrient material and a protective covering.
The oval, thin-shelled reproductive body of a bird, especially that of a hen, used as food.
Something having the ovoid shape of an egg.
Slang A fellow; a person: He's a good egg.
tr.v.
egged, egg·ing, eggs
To cover with beaten egg, as in cooking.
Slang To throw eggs at.
[Middle English egge, bird's egg, from Old Norse egg; see awi- in Indo-European roots.]
egg 2Audio Help (ěg) Pronunciation Key
tr.v.
egged, egg·ing, eggs
To encourage or incite to action. Used with on:The racing fans egged their favorites on.
[Middle English eggen, from Old Norse eggja; see ak- in Indo-European roots.]
c.1340, from northern England dialect, from O.N. egg, which vied with M.E. eye, eai (from O.E. æg) until finally displacing it after 1500; both are from P.Gmc. *ajja(m), probably from PIE *owyo-/*oyyo- "egg" (cf. Goth. ada, Ger. ei, O.C.S. aja, Rus. jajco, Bret. ui, Gk. oon, L. ovum). Caxton (15c.) writes of a merchant (probably a north-country man) in a public house on the Thames who asked for eggs:
"And the goode wyf answerde, that she coude speke no frenshe. And the marchaunt was angry, for he also coude speke no frenshe, but wolde have hadde egges, and she understode hym not."
She did, however, recognize another customer's request for "eyren." Egg nog is Amer.Eng. c.1775, from nog "strong ale," E.Anglian dial., of unknown origin. Eggplant is 1767, originally only of the white variety. Bad egg in the fig. sense is from 1855. To have egg on (one's) face "be made to look foolish" is first recorded 1964. Egg-beater is from 1828; slang sense of "helicopter" is from 1937. Eggshell as emblematic of "thin and delicate" is from 1835; as a color term, it dates from 1894.
animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum or embryo together with nutritive and protective envelopes; especially the thin-shelled reproductive body laid by e.g. female birds
2.
oval reproductive body of a fowl (especially a hen) used as food
3.
one of the two male reproductive glands that produce spermatozoa and secrete androgens; "she kicked him in the balls and got away" [syn: testis]
an oval object usually covered with shell, laid by a bird, reptile etc, from which a young one is hatched Example: The female bird is sitting on the eggs in the nest.
Arabic:
بَيْضَه
Chinese (Simplified):
蛋
Chinese (Traditional):
蛋
Czech:
vejce
Danish:
æg
Dutch:
ei
Estonian:
muna
Finnish:
muna
French:
oeuf
German:
das Ei
Greek:
αβγό
Hungarian:
tojás
Icelandic:
egg
Indonesian:
telur
Japanese:
卵
Korean:
알
Latvian:
ola
Lithuanian:
kiaušinis
Norwegian:
egg
Polish:
jajko
Portuguese (Brazil):
ovo
Portuguese (Portugal):
ovo
Romanian:
ou
Russian:
яйцо
Slovak:
vajce
Slovenian:
jajce
Spanish:
huevo
Swedish:
ägg
Turkish:
yumurta
egg2[eg]noun
such an object laid by a hen, used as food Example: Would you rather have boiled, fried or scrambled eggs?
Arabic:
بَيْضَة الدَّجاج
Chinese (Simplified):
鸡蛋
Chinese (Traditional):
雞蛋
Czech:
vejce
Danish:
æg
Dutch:
ei
Estonian:
kanamuna
Finnish:
muna
French:
oeuf
German:
das Ei
Greek:
αβγό
Hungarian:
tojás
Icelandic:
egg
Indonesian:
telur
Japanese:
鶏卵
Korean:
달걀
Latvian:
ola
Lithuanian:
kiaušinis
Norwegian:
egg
Polish:
jajko
Portuguese (Brazil):
ovo
Portuguese (Portugal):
ovo
Romanian:
ou
Russian:
яйцо
Slovak:
vajce
Slovenian:
jajce
Spanish:
huevo
Swedish:
ägg
Turkish:
yumurta
egg3[eg]noun
in the female mammal, the cell from which the young one is formed; the ovum Example: The egg is fertilized by the male sperm.
Arabic:
بَوَيْضَه
Chinese (Simplified):
卵细胞
Chinese (Traditional):
卵細胞
Czech:
vajíčko
Danish:
ægcelle
Dutch:
eicel
Estonian:
munarakk
Finnish:
munasolu
French:
ovule
German:
die Eizelle
Greek:
ωάριο
Hungarian:
pete
Icelandic:
eggfruma
Indonesian:
sel telur
Japanese:
卵子
Korean:
난자, 난세포
Latvian:
olšūna
Lithuanian:
kiaušinėlis
Norwegian:
egg(celle)
Polish:
komórka jajowa
Portuguese (Brazil):
óvulo
Portuguese (Portugal):
óvulo
Romanian:
ovul
Russian:
яйцеклетка
Slovak:
vajíčko
Slovenian:
jajčece
Spanish:
óvulo
Swedish:
ägg
Turkish:
yumurta
egg[eg]
to urge (somebody) on (to do something) Example: He egged his friend on to steal the radio.
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.
Egg Harbor, WI (village, FIPS 22850) Location: 45.04582 N, 87.29121 W Population (1990): 183 (451 housing units) Area: 4.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 54209
Egg Harbor City, NJ (city, FIPS 20350) Location: 39.56429 N, 74.59632 W Population (1990): 4583 (1750 housing units) Area: 28.8 sq km (land), 1.1 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 08215
Cock"ney\ (k[o^]k"n[y^]), n.; pl. Cockneys (-n[i^]z). [OE. cocknay, cokenay, a spoiled child, effeminate person, an egg; prob. orig. a cock's egg, a small imperfect egg; OE. cok cock + nay, neye, for ey egg (cf. Newt), AS. [ae]g. See 1st Cock, Egg, n.]1. An effeminate person; a spoilt child. "A young heir or cockney, that is his mother's darling." --Nash (1592). This great lubber, the world, will prove a cockney. --Shak. 2. A native or resident of the city of London; -- used contemptuously. A cockney in a rural village was stared at as much as if he had entered a kraal of Hottentots. --Macaulay.
Edge\, n. [OE. eg, egge, AS. ecg; akin to OHG. ekka, G. ecke, Icel. & Sw. egg, Dan. eg, and to L. acies, Gr. ? point, Skr. a?ri edge. ??. Cf. Egg, v. t., Eager, Ear spike of corn, Acute.]1. The thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument; as, the edge of an ax, knife, sword, or scythe. Hence, figuratively, that which cuts as an edge does, or wounds deeply, etc. He which hath the sharp sword with two edges. --Rev. ii. 12. Slander, Whose edge is sharper than the sword. --Shak. 2. Any sharp terminating border; a margin; a brink; extreme verge; as, the edge of a table, a precipice. Upon the edge of yonder coppice. --Shak. In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge Of battle. --Milton. Pursue even to the very edge of destruction. --Sir W. Scott. 3. Sharpness; readiness of fitness to cut; keenness; intenseness of desire. The full edge of our indignation. --Sir W. Scott. Death and persecution lose all the ill that they can have, if we do not set an edge upon them by our fears and by our vices. --Jer. Taylor. 4. The border or part adjacent to the line of division; the beginning or early part; as, in the edge of evening. "On the edge of winter." --Milton. Edge joint (Carp.), a joint formed by two edges making a corner. Edge mill, a crushing or grinding mill in which stones roll around on their edges, on a level circular bed; -- used for ore, and as an oil mill. Called also Chilian mill. Edge molding (Arch.), a molding whose section is made up of two curves meeting in an angle. Edge plane. (a) (Carp.) A plane for edging boards. (b) (Shoemaking) A plane for edging soles. Edge play, a kind of swordplay in which backswords or cutlasses are used, and the edge, rather than the point, is employed. Edge rail. (Railroad) (a) A rail set on edge; -- applied to a rail of more depth than width. (b) A guard rail by the side of the main rail at a switch. --Knight. Edge railway, a railway having the rails set on edge. Edge stone, a curbstone. Edge tool. (a) Any tool instrument having a sharp edge intended for cutting. (b) A tool for forming or dressing an edge; an edging tool. To be on edge, to be eager, impatient, or anxious. To set the teeth on edge, to cause a disagreeable tingling sensation in the teeth, as by bringing acids into contact with them. --Bacon.
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Audio Help [eg] Pronunciation Key 
