egg on
(redirected from egg her on)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.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
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.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.