trial balloon

noun

1. a statement, program, or the like issued publicly as a means of determining reactions in advance:

   The speech was a trial balloon for a new law.

trial balloon

noun

1. See ballon d'essai
   a tentative action or statement designed to test public opinion on a controversial matter Compare ballon d'essai

trial balloon

1. A small campaign or test designed to gauge public response. The term originally referred to a balloon sent up to determine weather conditions: “The speech on free trade that the candidate delivered last month must have been a trial balloon; the audience reacted with hostility, and he has not mentioned the subject since.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of trial balloon¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Idioms and Phrases

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]

Example Sentences

But it is another thing to watch his own advisers float a trial balloon that he might finally change his story.

From The Daily Beast

In the surreal half-light of a trial-balloon nomination, it is difficult for an individual to come to his own defense.

From The Daily Beast

The shadow-boxing over the Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense trial balloon has turned ugly—and misleading.

From The Daily Beast

The reply to Greeley was, as noted, a trial balloon, whose purpose was to test the reaction of the public to these alternatives.

From The Daily Beast

That was such an obviously desperate trial balloon late yesterday, when Drudge posted that Romney was considering Condi for veep.

From The Daily Beast