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Glite Dictionary
to egg on

to egg on

18 6.6
To urge someone to do something, often something unwise
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɛɡ ɑn/
  • Informal
: animar a
  • She didn't want to go on the roller coaster, but her peers egged her on until she agreed.

They like egged him on into saying the N word and then trying to extort him.

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Examples

Synonyms

to urge
vsto egg on
514 3.2

To strongly encourage someone to do something

presses for risky or wrong actions rather than neutral advice
to incite
vsto egg on
  • NSFW
75 7.7

To push people to do violent or illegal acts

encourages risky or wrong acts rather than only criminal ones
to prod
vsto egg on
28 3.6

To push someone a little to make them start doing something

nudges toward risky or wrong actions rather than gentle reminders
to urge on
vsto egg on
17 3.4

To encourage someone to go faster or try harder

encourages risky or harmful choices rather than effort or perseverance
to exhort
vsto egg on
  • Formal
16 7.7

To strongly encourage someone to do something

pushes for risky or unwise actions rather than giving general advice
to twist someone's arm
vsto egg on
  • Informal
10 4.4

Get someone to agree or do something by pressuring them

uses encouragement that pushes toward risky or wrong acts rather than mere persuasion

Antonyms

to discourage
152 3.5

To try to stop something by making people less willing to do it

How Strongly

to incite
  • NSFW
75 7.7
to urge
514 3.2
to egg on
  • Informal
18 6.6
to encourage
877 2.3
to coax
53 4.1

Surface Forms

egg on infinitive
egging on present participle
eggs on third person singular
egged on past
egged on past participle

Morphology

egg + on

The meaning 'to encourage or urge someone (often to do something unwise)' cannot be deduced from the literal constituents 'egg' (the food) and 'on' (a particle/preposition). The phrase is idiomatic and historically derived from a different root of 'egg/eggja' rather than a transparent composition, so a B1 learner who knows the words would very likely not predict the idiomatic sense.

Etymology

The phrasal verb egg on may come from an old verb egg that meant 'urge'. Imagine gently poking someone to make them move on; that's why egg on means 'to encourage someone to do something, often something unwise'.