01 n. The oval or roundish body laid by domestic poultry and other birds, tortoises, etc. It consists of a yolk, usually surrounded by the “white…
-
1.
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.(Popularly)
-
2.
A simple cell, from the development of which the young of animals are formed; ovum; germ cell.(Biol.)
-
3.
Anything resembling an egg in form.
Phrases & compounds
Egg and anchor —
see egg-and-dart in the vocabulary, below; -- called also egg and dart, and egg and tongue. See Anchor, n., 5.
Egg cleavage —
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 —
the process of the development of an egg, by which the embryo is formed.
Egg mite —
any mite which devours the eggs of insects, as Nothrus ovivorus, which destroys those of the canker worm.
Egg parasite —
any small hymenopterous insect, which, in the larval stage, lives within the eggs of other insects. Many genera and species are known.