| 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 n. An idea or a plan advanced tentatively to test public reaction. [From the use of balloons to test weather conditions.] |
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.”
trial balloon
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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]