egg on
Related to egg on: egg on your face
egg on
slang To urge someone to do something, often something mischievous. A noun or pronoun can be used between "egg" and "on." Trevor's never been in trouble before, so I'm sure his friends egged him on to start the food fight.
See also: egg, on
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
egg someone on
to encourage, urge, or dare someone to continue doing something, usually something unwise. John wouldn't have done the dangerous experiment if his brother hadn't egged him on. The two boys kept throwing stones because the other children were egging them on.
See also: egg, on
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
egg on
Incite, urge ahead, provoke, as in Jack is always egging me on to drive faster, or Seemingly quiet, Margo actually eggs on Donald to quarrel with his staff. This expression has nothing to do with hen's eggs but comes from an Old Norse word, eggja, "to edge." Both edge on and egg on were used interchangeably, but today the latter is preferred. [c. 1200]
See also: egg, on
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
egg on
v.
To encourage, goad, or incite someone into action: I didn't want to sing karaoke, but my friends egged me on. She egged on her coworkers to sign the petition.
See also: egg, on
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
- add in
- (someone or something) promises well
- all right
- a/the feel of (something)
- (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
- (have) got something going (with someone)
- (you've) got to get up pretty early in the morning to (do something)
- a straw will show which way the wind blows
- accompanied by
- accompanied by (someone or something)