send up a trial balloon

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to suggest something and see how people respond to it; to test public opinion. Mary had an excellent idea, but when we sent up a trial balloon, the response was very negative. Don't start the whole project without sending up a trial balloon.

See also: balloon, send, trial, up

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send to
send to Coventry
send to death
send to glory
send to the showers
send under
send up
send up a trial balloon
send up the river
send up the wall
send word to
sense
sense of humor
sensitize to
sentence

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