trial balloon

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.

Before they settled on this cleverly dishonest video, his campaign was leaking trial balloons to the press about considering a 15- or 16-week ban.

From Salon

It’s a common strategy for rising authoritarians to float “trial balloons” to see what they can get away, as Professor Ben-Ghiat explained:

From Salon

Sadly, late last night, Trump himself stuck a shiv in that trial balloon by announcing that he was endorsing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for the job, likely assuring his victory.

From Salon

The nominations of Jefferson and Kugler came after a string of trial balloons floating other potential candidates who failed to gain traction.

From Reuters

"I think his completely made-up 'arrest on Tuesday' was a trial balloon to test his ability to summon a mob. If so, it's a test that failed."

From Salon