chicken-and-egg
adjective
chick·en-and-egg
ˈchi-kᵊn-ən(d)-ˈeg 
-ˈāg
: of, relating to, or being a cause-and-effect dilemma
Examples of chicken-and-egg in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This export-only framing creates a familiar chicken-and-egg problem.
—
Eme Bassey, Sourcing Journal, 12 Feb. 2026
There’s a chicken-and-egg, no pun intended, conundrum between retailers and the food supply chain, leading to a lack of healthy market competition.
—Jack Buffington, Fortune, 8 Feb. 2026
There’s a chicken-and-egg, no pun intended, conundrum between retailers and the food supply chain, leading to a lack of healthy market competition.
—Jack Buffington, The Conversation, 6 Feb. 2026
The collapse in demand during the COVID years exacerbated those annoyances, leaving those running the systems and the people who use them in an awkward chicken-and-egg dance: If service expands, will demand match it?
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
There is a chicken-and-egg scenario here.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2025
In summary, the chicken-and-egg problem of low renewable electricity and cheap hydrogen must be solved for green steel to go mainstream.
—Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 21 Sep. 2025
In other words, the key to answering this chicken-and-egg question for the stars within galaxies and the supermassive black holes also found within them is to sample those galaxies across cosmic time.
—Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 12 Aug. 2025
Domestically, American companies attempting to scale up their product face the chicken-and-egg challenge.
—Matthew Dawson, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
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Eme Bassey, Sourcing Journal, 12 Feb. 2026
There’s a chicken-and-egg, no pun intended, conundrum between retailers and the food supply chain, leading to a lack of healthy market competition.
—Jack Buffington, Fortune, 8 Feb. 2026
There’s a chicken-and-egg, no pun intended, conundrum between retailers and the food supply chain, leading to a lack of healthy market competition.
—Jack Buffington, The Conversation, 6 Feb. 2026
The collapse in demand during the COVID years exacerbated those annoyances, leaving those running the systems and the people who use them in an awkward chicken-and-egg dance: If service expands, will demand match it?
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
There is a chicken-and-egg scenario here.
—Liam Tharme, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2025
In summary, the chicken-and-egg problem of low renewable electricity and cheap hydrogen must be solved for green steel to go mainstream.
—Srishti Gupta, Interesting Engineering, 21 Sep. 2025
In other words, the key to answering this chicken-and-egg question for the stars within galaxies and the supermassive black holes also found within them is to sample those galaxies across cosmic time.
—Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 12 Aug. 2025
Domestically, American companies attempting to scale up their product face the chicken-and-egg challenge.
—Matthew Dawson, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chicken-and-egg.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chicken-and-egg. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.
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