Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
coddled egg

coddled egg

1 5.2
An egg cooked gently in its shell in hot water so the white becomes set and the yolk stays soft
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒdld ɛɡ/
translation icon : huevo escalfado
  • To make a coddled egg, place the egg in barely simmering water for just a few minutes.

Examples

  • The recipe calls for a coddled egg on top of toasted bread.

  • He prefers a coddled egg for breakfast because the yolk stays soft and creamy.

  • I had a coddled egg for breakfast.

  • She loves coddled eggs with toast.

  • For breakfast, I made coddled eggs with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

  • The restaurant's menu featured coddled eggs served with toasted bread.

  • She enjoyed a light meal of coddled eggs and fresh herbs.

Antonyms

hard-boiled egg
8 1.0

An egg boiled until the white and yolk are solid

How Cooked

boiled egg
15 1.0
coddled egg
1 5.2
soft-boiled
3 2.0

Surface Forms

coddled egg singular
coddled eggs plural

Morphology

coddle + egg

The compound is transparently built from the verb 'coddle' (to cook gently in barely simmering water) plus 'egg', so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes an egg cooked gently with set white and soft yolk. This is a regular deverbal noun formation and follows predictable cooking-verb + food patterns found in many languages, making the meaning accessible without prior exposure.

Etymology

Coddled egg comes from the verb coddle, which means 'to treat gently', because cooks would warm eggs very gently in hot water or a small cup so they did not break. That's why a coddled egg means an egg cooked very gently so the white is set but the yolk stays soft.