ballon d'essai
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Germans would simply use the small offer, not as a ballon d'essai, but as a means of inaugurating direct negotiations.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was not received with universal favour, and, to avert dissension, it was represented as a mere ballon d'essai and was abandoned.
From The Open Secret of Ireland by T. M. (Thomas Michael) Kettle
She was not a ballon d’essai; she was literally the whole show; and if she duplicated the sensational success of poor little Miss Claridge, we had nothing to fear.
From The Maids of Paradise by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
And in the early morning she had sent her note to Kitty—a ballon d'essai, despatched in a horror of great fear.
From The Marriage of William Ashe by Mrs. Humphry Ward
This little ballon d'essai met the fate of many such, for the manuscript was returned within a fortnight.
From William Hickling Prescott by Harry Thurston Peck
