eggs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of egg.

   Free-range eggs command higher prices in most supermarkets.

   The recipe calls for three eggs, beaten lightly with a fork.

   Note

   Only the countable egg takes this plural: a dozen eggs, free-range eggs, chocolate eggs. When egg means the substance, as in beaten egg or egg on a shirt, it is a mass noun and stays singular. So a recipe wants two eggs, but a cutlet is coated in egg. The same plural also covers egg cells, egg-shaped objects and the swellings raised on an injured head.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of egg.

   Whenever his friends start to argue, he eggs them on instead of calming them down.

   The older boy eggs the younger kids on to climb higher than they should.

   Note

   One spelling carries several verbs. A prankster eggs a house with rotten eggs, a cook eggs a cutlet before frying it, a careless bender eggs a tube out of round, and a friend eggs you on. Each of these takes an object. Only the nest-raiding sense stands alone (he eggs along the cliffs). Because the form matches the plural noun, the words around it usually settle which is meant.

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