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lay an egg

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lay an egg

 

1. Lit. [for a hen, etc.] to deposit an egg. Old Red stopped laying eggs, so we stewed her for Sunday dinner.

2. Fig. [for someone] to do something bad or poorly; to perform poorly on stage. I guess I really laid an egg, huh? The cast laid an egg in both performances.

See also: egg, lay

lay an egg

  (American informal)

to fail to make people enjoy or be interested in something Our first two sketches got big laughs, but the next two laid an egg.

See also: egg, lay

lay an egg

Fail, especially in a public performance; make a humiliating error. For example, Carol really laid an egg last night when she forgot her lines, or, as Variety had it in October 1929: "Wall Street Lays An Egg." The term originated in the late 1800s in vaudeville and was extended to nontheatrical failures in the early 1900s.

See also: egg, lay

lay an egg

1. tv. [for someone] to do something bad or poorly. I guess I really laid an egg, huh?

2. tv. [for something] to fail. The community theater laid an egg last night with the opening performance of Death of a Salesman. The film was fun to make, but it laid an egg at the box office.

3. tv. to laugh very hard; to cackle long and loudly. (As if one were a chicken.) Half the audience laid an egg when I told this one.

See also: egg, lay

lay an egg

Informal

To fail, especially in a public performance.

See also: egg, lay