Egg , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Egged (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Egging (?).] [OE. eggen, Icel. eggja, fr. egg edge. ??. See Edge.] To urge on; to instigate; to incite?

Adam and Eve he egged to ill. Piers Plowman.

[She] did egg him on to tell How fair she was. Warner.

Egg " (?), n. [OE., fr. Icel. egg; akin to AS. æg (whence OE. ey), Sw. ägg, Dan. æg, G. & D. ei, and prob. to OSlav. aje, jaje, L. ovum, Gr. w,o`n, Ir. ugh, Gael. ubh, and perh. to L. avis bird. Cf. Oval.] "

1.(Popularly) The oval or roundish body laid by domestic poultry and other birds, tortoises, etc. It consists of a yolk, usually surrounded by the "white" or albumen, and inclosed in a shell or strong membrane.

2. (Biol.) A simple cell, from the development of which the young of animals are formed; ovum; germ cell.

3. Anything resembling an egg in form.

☞ Egg is used adjectively, or as the first part of self-explaining compounds; as, egg beater or egg- beater, egg case, egg ladle, egg-shaped, etc.

Egg and anchor (Arch.), an egg-shaped ornament, alternating with another in the form of a dart, used to enrich the ovolo; -- called also egg and dart, and egg and tongue. See Anchor, n., 5.Ogilvie. -- Egg cleavage (Biol.), a process of cleavage or segmentation, by which the egg undergoes endogenous division with formation of a mass of nearly similar cells, from the growth and differentiation of which the new organism is ultimately formed. See Segmentation of the ovum, under Segmentation. -- Egg development(Biol.), the process of the development of an egg, by which the embryo is formed. -- Egg mite(Zoöl.), any mite which devours the eggs of insects, as Nothrus ovivorus, which destroys those of the canker worm. -- Egg parasite (Zoöl.), any small hymenopterous insect, which, in the larval stage, lives within the eggs of other insects. Many genera and species are known.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913