trial balloon
A preliminary or tentative execution of a plan or idea in order to gauge the interest or approval of someone else, especially the public. We introduced the recipe for our soda in certain parts of the country as a trial balloon, but the response was overwhelmingly negative, so we scrapped the planned revision.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
trial balloon
a test of someone's or the public's reaction. It was just a trial balloon, and it didn't work. The trial balloon was a great success.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
trial balloon
An idea or plan advanced tentatively to test public reaction, as in Let's send up a trial balloon for this new program before we commit ourselves. This expression alludes to sending up balloons to test weather conditions. [c. 1930]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
trial balloon
n. a test of someone’s reaction. It was just a trial balloon, and it didn’t work.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.