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unlaid

unlaid

8.8
An egg still inside a bird or animal
  • adjective
translation icon : no puesto
  • Some reptiles can retain unlaid eggs for several days before depositing them.
  • unlaid egg

Examples

  • The study focused on the development of unlaid eggs within the female fish.

  • The veterinarian explained that the bird was suffering from an unlaid egg.

  • The nest contained several unlaid eggs.

  • She found an unlaid egg in the barn.

  • The ornithologist examined the unlaid eggs to study the bird's reproductive habits.

  • Scientists discovered an unlaid egg in the nest, indicating that the mother had not yet completed her reproductive cycle.

  • The biologist noted that the unlaid egg remained inside the bird, which is common during the early stages of nesting.

Antonyms

33 1.2

Put in a planned order like a table or tiles

Surface Forms

unlaid positive

Morphology

unlaid = laid (transparent) = un + laid

Applied to eggs, 'un-' negates 'laid' straightforwardly (eggs not yet deposited), a directly compositional meaning.

Etymology

Unlaid comes from the prefix un- meaning 'not' and laid, from the verb 'to lay', as in 'to lay eggs'. So an unlaid egg is simply an egg that has not yet been laid or deposited.