egg on

Idioms and Phrases

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]

More About Egg On

What does egg on mean?

Egg on is to goad or urge someone else to do something, as in The teacher eggs his students on to study hard and get good grades. 

Egg on is also used in a negative context to accuse someone of trying to start problems or making a bad situation worse by pushing others to misbehave, as in The two men circled each other, while the crowd egged them on to throw punches. 

Example: My sister is always egging me on to skip school, but I won’t because I don’t want to get in trouble.

Where does egg on come from?

The first records of egg on come from around 1200. The egg in the phrase actually comes from the Old Norse eggja, meaning “to edge.” In the past, the phrases edge on and egg on were used interchangeably, but today egg on is the more common of the two.

Egg on is often used to describe a person who is trying to cause trouble or escalate a situation. Egg on can often describe the idea of peer pressure, in which you might not have normally done something but peers goad you into doing it.

Did you know … ?

What are some synonyms for egg on?

• agitate
• drive
• goad
• incite
• prod

What are some words that share a root or word element with egg on? 

• egg
• on
• edge

What are some words that often get used in discussing egg on?

• instigator
• rabble-rouser
• peer pressure

How is egg on used in real life?

Egg on is often used to refer to a situation in which someone is being prodded or encouraged to do something.

I've uninstalled Twitter on my phone & will soon delete my account. I've watched people become increasingly mentally unwell yet be ridiculed & egged on. Employers have a duty of care to staff who tweet in a semi professional capacity & must step in when they see signs of illness.

— Jane Evans (@JaneEva37964120) May 11, 2021

Car rides to the location of the event consists of my mom telling the entire car to please be nice and dad egging us on to be mean.

— Grayson Holdaway (@LeRoy_J_mon3y) November 23, 2017

When people are egging you on to do certain things, please remember they won't be there to help you deal with your conscience.

— Artist, Sound Engineer & Producer (@OrchestraArtist) July 28, 2017

Try using egg on!

Is egg on used correctly in the following sentence?

The teachers yelled at the older students for egging on the younger students to misbehave in class.