ballon d'essai

[ ba-lawnde-se ]
See synonyms for ballon d'essai on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural bal·lons d'es·sai [ba-lawnde-se]. /ba lɔ̃ dɛˈsɛ/. French.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for ballon d'essai

ballon d'essai

/ (bæˈlõ dɛˈseɪ) /


nounplural ballons d'essai (bæˈlõ dɛˈseɪ)
  1. a project or policy put forward experimentally to gauge reactions to it: Compare trial balloon

Origin of ballon d'essai

1
C19: from French, literally: trial balloon

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012