lay an egg

lay an egg
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.

* * *
{v. phr.}, {slang} To fail to win the interest or favor of an audience. * /His joke laid an egg./ * /Sometimes he is a successful speaker, but sometimes he lays an egg./

Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • lay an egg — {v. phr.}, {slang} To fail to win the interest or favor of an audience. * /His joke laid an egg./ * /Sometimes he is a successful speaker, but sometimes he lays an egg./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • lay an egg — ► US to make something that does not work well or that fails: »They laid an egg by putting last decade s technology in that phone. Main Entry: ↑lay …   Financial and business terms

  • lay an egg — phrasal 1. : to fail to get a favorable response (as from an audience) : fall flat : fizzle 2. slang : to drop a bomb * * * lay an egg (slang, chiefly US) (of a joke, comedian, theatrical performance, etc) to fail, flop • • • …   Useful english dictionary

  • lay an egg — 1. tv. [for someone] to do something bad or poorly. □ I guess I really laid an egg, huh? □ The cast laid an egg in both performances. 2. tv. [for something] to fail. □ The community theater laid an egg last night with the opening performance of… …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • lay an egg — vb 1. American to fail, to be responsible for a dismal or disappointing performance. This expression comes from the Victorian British saying lay a duck s egg , meaning to score zero (now extinct in British speech). 2. Australian to behave in an… …   Contemporary slang

  • lay an egg — verb a) To produce an egg. That author usually writes good stuff, but he really laid an egg with that last piece. b) To produce a failure or flop; to do something which is unsuccessful …   Wiktionary

  • lay\ an\ egg — v. phr. slang To fail to win the interest or favor of an audience. His joke laid an egg. Sometimes he is a successful speaker, but sometimes he lays an egg …   Словарь американских идиом

  • lay an egg — fail to win the interest or favor of an audience Although he was supposed to be a good magician, his performance was terrible and it laid an egg with the audience …   Idioms and examples

  • 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 …   New idioms dictionary

  • lay an egg — phrasal to fail or blunder especially embarrassingly …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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