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egg on

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egg someone on

to encourage, urge, or dare someone to continue doing something, usually something unwise. John wouldn't have done the dangerous experiment if his brother hadn't egged him on. The two boys kept throwing stones because the other children were egging them on.

See also: egg, on

egg on

Incite, urge ahead, provoke, as in Jack is always egging me on to drive faster, or Seemingly quiet, Margo actually eggs on Donald to quarrel with his staff. This expression has nothing to do with hen's eggs but comes from an Old Norse word, eggja, "to edge." Both edge on and egg on were used interchangeably, but today the latter is preferred. [c. 1200]

See also: egg, on

egg on

v.

To encourage, goad, or incite someone into action: I didn't want to sing karaoke, but my friends egged me on. She egged on her coworkers to sign the petition.

See also: egg, on