put an egg in one's shoe and beat it

verb

To go away; get lost; scram.

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Meanings

verbput an egg in one's shoe and beat it (third-person singular simple present puts an egg in one's shoe and beats it, present participle putting an egg in one's shoe and beating it, simple past put an egg in one's shoe and beat it, past participle put an egg in one's shoe and beaten it)

present singular third person puts an egg in one's shoe and beats it · participle present putting an egg in one's shoe and beating it · participle past put an egg in one's shoe and beaten it

  1. imperativeslangTo go away; get lost; scram.

    You better put an egg in your shoe and beat it before incidents occur to you.

    1910, O. Henry, “What You Want”, in Strictly Different
    1 more example

    At twenty to ten, Henry Beaufort, bartender and owner of The Mellow Tiger, had invited Hugh to put an egg in his shoe and beat it, to make like a tree and leave, to imitate an amoeba and split — in other words, to get the fuck out.

    1991, Stephen King, Needful Things

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
make like a tree and leave

Origin

A pun on beat it (“go away, scram”) and the process of beating eggs in cookery, with a person's shoe seen as a means of departure from a place.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

put an egg in one's shoe and beat it. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20an%20egg%20in%20one's%20shoe%20and%20beat%20it

MLA

“put an egg in one's shoe and beat it.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20an%20egg%20in%20one's%20shoe%20and%20beat%20it. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “put an egg in one's shoe and beat it,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put%20an%20egg%20in%20one's%20shoe%20and%20beat%20it.

Source: put an egg in one's shoe and beat it on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.