eggling

noun — 2 senses

eggling

noun

/ɛɡ.l̩.ɪŋ/ · /ɛɡ.lɪŋ/

Etymology Presumably from *eggle (“to sell eggs”) + -ing. Compare eggler (“seller of eggs”).

1

Archaic The sale of eggs; the trade of an eggler.

  • No eggler will allow eggs to be contaminated, because he wants to sell at the best price he can get […] If the House says it is, then in my opinion the majority of those people must get out of eggling […]1938, Ireland. Oireachtas. Dáil, Parliamentary debates; official report, volume 73, page 734:
  • The death of Dobbin of old age had put an end to his master's eggling, for he had no capital with which to buy another horse.1945, Flora Thompson, Lark Rise to Candleford:

eggling

noun

Etymology From egg + -ling.

1

A small, miniature, undersized, or underdeveloped egg.

  • "Ode X" in 1834, Charles L. S. Jones, American Lyrics One Lovling scarcely's fledg'd. One, yet, An eggling still remains; A third, from forth the broken shell, In chirping notes, complains.
  • But now the little Other eggling was making loud peeping sounds. It was hungry.2007, Robert J. Sawyer, Foreigner:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.