egg
egg — noun
- eggsingular
- eggsplural
1. a hard-shelled oval object laid by a hen or other female bird, often boiled, fri
a hard-shelled oval object laid by a hen or other female bird, often boiled, fried, or used as an ingredient in cooking
Keiko cracked two eggs into the bowl and began whisking.
collocation: crack an egg
Nadia bought a dozen eggs at the market on Saturday morning.
The recipe says to boil the eggs for exactly six minutes.
A small brown egg sat alone in the nesting box.
Would you like your eggs scrambled or fried this morning?
常見錯誤
2. an object made to look like a hen's egg, often used as a decoration or a sweet
an object made to look like a hen's egg, often used as a decoration or a sweet
Amara unwrapped a small chocolate egg from the gold foil.
The children hunted for painted eggs in the garden all afternoon.
cultural reference: Easter egg hunt
A marble egg sat on the shelf, polished smooth and heavy.
Dmitri gave his grandmother a carved wooden egg from Poland.
The jeweller displayed a tiny Fabergé egg in the glass case.
3. the small round body that a female bird, reptile, fish, or insect lays, with a g
the small round body that a female bird, reptile, fish, or insect lays, with a growing baby inside that will hatch when ready
A robin laid three blue eggs in the tree outside Fatima's window.
collocation: lay eggs
The turtle buried her eggs deep in the warm sand at dawn.
Kwame watched the tiny lizard eggs hatch one by one in the tank.
Each butterfly egg on the leaf was smaller than a grain of rice.
The snake's eggs need steady warmth for the babies to develop inside.
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1 (CHICKEN EGG): this sense refers to eggs in nature that are meant to hatch, not eggs produced for food.
常見錯誤
4. the tiny cell inside a woman or female animal that can join with a male cell to
the tiny cell inside a woman or female animal that can join with a male cell to start a pregnancy
Doctors can now freeze a woman's eggs for future pregnancy attempts.
collocation: freeze eggs
Ines learned about how eggs are released during the monthly cycle.
The clinic examined the donor eggs under a microscope before selection.
A single egg travels from the ovary into the fallopian tube each month.
The laboratory confirmed that the egg had been successfully fertilised overnight.
- ovum
formal scientific term for the same cell
用法筆記
Scientific and medical term. In everyday conversation, people often use 'egg' loosely for both the food item (sense 1) and the reproductive cell (sense 4), but the two are distinct concepts.
5. an ice hockey result in which neither side scores a goal, leaving both teams at
an ice hockey result in which neither side scores a goal, leaving both teams at zero
After a tense match, both teams logged eggs and went to overtime.
sports slang: eggs = zero score
The goalie's heroics kept the score at eggs for the visiting side.
The home side put up a goose egg for the fifth game in a row.
With a minute left, the visiting team was still sitting on a goose egg.
Both teams walked off with a goose egg after the tightly fought final period.
- goose egg
informal North American term for a zero score in any sport
用法筆記
Only used in ice hockey commentary. The term is rare; most other sports use 'nil', 'zero', or 'shutout' for a scoreless result.
egg — verb
- eggpresent simple I / you / we / they
- eggs3rd person singular
- egging-ing form
- eggedpast simple
1. to strongly encourage someone to do something, especially something risky or unw
to strongly encourage someone to do something, especially something risky or unwise
Soren's friends egged him on until he agreed to sing on stage.
pattern: egg + someone + on
The crowd egged the two boys into a fight behind the school.
Yuki knew her classmates were egging her into making a bad decision.
Don't egg your brother on — he doesn't need any more trouble.
Bjorn egged his teammates into pulling a risky late-night prank.
文法句型
egg + someone + on
egg + someone + into + -ing form
用法筆記
Almost always used with 'on' (egg someone on) or the pattern 'egg someone into doing something'. Rarely used without a particle. Subject is usually a person or a group of people.
常見錯誤
2. to dip or brush food with beaten egg before cooking, especially before coating w
to dip or brush food with beaten egg before cooking, especially before coating with breadcrumbs or frying
Hana egged the chicken cutlets carefully before pressing them into the crumbs.
cooking: egg + food before breading
The chef egged each slice of bread and dropped them into the hot pan.
First egg the fish fillets, then roll them in seasoned flour.
Petra egged the aubergine slices and laid them on the baking tray.
- coat
general term for covering food with any layer; 'egg' is specific to using beaten egg
文法句型
egg + food item
用法筆記
Cooking term. The subject is typically a cook or chef; the object is food being prepared for frying or baking.
3. to throw eggs at a person, building, or vehicle as an act of protest or vandalis
to throw eggs at a person, building, or vehicle as an act of protest or vandalism
Protesters egged the politician's car as it pulled up to the town hall.
pattern: egg + vehicle (protest action)
Someone egged Omar's front door during the night and left a mess.
The crowd began to egg the speaker when he refused to answer questions.
A group of teenagers egged the empty shop windows on Halloween.
- pelt
general term for throwing things at someone or something; 'egg' specifies the object thrown
文法句型
egg + person/building/vehicle