Egging

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɛɡɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Acting to urge or provoke a person to take an action, often reckless ; the act of throwing eggs at a person, building, or vehicle as a prank or form of vandalism
2. The behavior of inciting or pushing another to perform an often unwise deed ; the act of pelting objects with eggs to cause disruption or damage
3. Behavior that prompts or goads someone to do something, commonly something unwise ; assaulting or harassing by hurling eggs at a target for mischief or protest

Etymology: The verb "egging" in its prank sense is a product of two unrelated histories that happen to meet. The noun "egg" came into English from Old Norse, displacing the native Old English "ey" (plural "eyren"), which lingered into the 16th century before disappearing. Its ancestry runs back to a Proto-Indo-European root that also gave Latin "ovum," which makes "egg" a doublet of "ovum" even though the two reached English by different routes. The sense of urging or provoking is the older one. Middle English "eggen" meant to incite, lure, tempt, or taunt, and that was the sense the word carried long before anyone threw a carton at a house. The throwing sense is a modern extension built on the noun: once "egg" became a verb meaning to pelt someone with eggs, the participle "egging" took on the prank and vandalism meaning, while the older incitement sense persisted alongside it.

Synonyms: encouraging, instigating, prodding, urging, coaxing

Antonyms: discouraging, dissuading, preventing, stopping, hindering