laid an egg

phrase

past tense of lay an egg
1
as in stumbled
to make a mistake His book report was going perfectly until he laid an egg and got the main character's name wrong.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in collapsed
to be unsuccessful The gymnast nailed perfect landings on her first two vaults but really laid an egg on the third.

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for laid an egg
  1. dropped the ball
  2. fell short
  3. fell flat
Phrase
  • With men on first and third and nobody out that inning, second baseman Jackson Holliday fielded a tough grounder and threw to second, but shortstop Gunnar Henderson dropped the ball for an error and everyone was safe.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Raleigh dropped the ball, and Bauers dived back to the plate.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of dropped the ball
Phrase
  • District 4 candidate Christina Romelus had 40% of the vote with all precincts counted but fell short of the 50% threshold.
    — Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Texas ultimately fell short of the 12-team CFP while the Buckeyes lost their last two games, the latter in the CFP quarterfinals.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of fell short
Phrase
  • Just last year, Nate Bargatze entered Emmys night as a peak-of-fame comedian, and ended the evening as the object of mass audience disgruntlement after a running joke about winners’ lengthy speeches taking money away from children in need fell flat.
    — Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026
  • But when the game still mattered, when the starters were out there, the Panthers fell flat.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of fell flat
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

laid
laid an egg
laid away
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Laid an egg.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laid%20an%20egg. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of rigmarole

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All