[eg] 
| 1. | 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. |
| 4. | anything resembling a hen's egg. |
| 5. | Also called egg cell. the female gamete; ovum. |
| 6. | Informal. person: He's a good egg. |
| 7. | Slang. an aerial bomb. |
| 8. | to prepare (food) by dipping in beaten egg. |
| 9. | 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. |
[e] 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], to rhyme with vague and plague, especially in the speech of the less educated. This raising of [e] to a higher vowel [ey], articulated with the upper surface of the tongue closer to the palate, also occurs before [zh], as in measure, pleasure, and treasure. |
walk on eggs
and walk on thin ice
|
"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.
egg (ěg)
n.
The female sexual cell or gamete; an ovum.
walk on eggs
Proceed very cautiously, as in I knew I was walking on eggs when I asked about the department's involvement in the lawsuit. This metaphoric idiom transfers walking on fragile eggs to discussing or investigating a dangerous subject. [First half of 1700s]