Egg , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Egged (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Egging (?).]
[OE. eggen, Icel. eggja, fr. egg edge. &?;&?;. See Edge.] To urge on; to instigate; to incite&?;
Adam and Eve he egged to ill.
Piers Plowman. [She] did egg him on
to tell
How fair she
was.
Warner.
Egg (?), n. [OE., fr.
Icel. egg; akin to AS. æg (whence OE. ey), Sw.
ägg, Dan. æg, G. &
D. ei, and prob. to OSlav. aje, jaje, L.
ovum, Gr. 'w,o`n, Ir. ugh, Gael. ubh, and perh. to L.
avis bird. Cf. Oval.]
1. (Popularly) The oval or roundish body laid by domestic poultry and other birds, tortoises, etc.
It consists of a
yolk, usually surrounded by the "white" or
albumen, and inclosed in a shell or strong membrane.
2.
(Biol.) A simple cell, from the development of which the
young of animals are formed; ovum; germ cell.
3. Anything resembling an egg in form.
&fist; Egg is used adjectively, or as the first
part of self-explaining compounds; as, egg beater or egg- beater, egg case, egg ladle, egg-shaped, etc.
Egg and anchor (Arch.),
an egg-shaped ornament, alternating with another in the form of a dart, used to
enrich the ovolo; -- called also egg and dart, and egg and tongue. See Anchor, n.,
5. Ogilvie. -- Egg cleavage (Biol.), a process of
cleavage or segmentation, by which the egg
undergoes endogenous division with formation of a mass of nearly similar cells, from the growth and differentiation of which the new
organism is ultimately formed. See Segmentation of the ovum, under Segmentation. -- Egg development
(Biol.), the process of the development of an egg, by which the
embryo is formed. -- Egg mite (Zoöl.), any mite which devours the eggs of insects, as Nothrus
ovivorus, which destroys those of the
canker worm. -- Egg parasite (Zoöl.), any small hymenopterous insect, which, in the
larval stage, lives within the eggs of other insects. Many genera and species are known.
Hear it pronounced