trial balloon

noun

: a project or scheme tentatively announced in order to test public opinion

Examples of trial balloon in a Sentence

She's been floating trial balloons about a possible run for Congress.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

While fintech relevant rules and regulations like 1033 seem likely to remain, albeit in neutered form, Elon Musk's trial balloon dissolution of the CFPB and the new administration’s broader tendency towards deregulation could open the door for predatory financial services practices. —

Vikas Raj, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025 Democrats didn’t find Trump’s trial balloons funny at all. —

Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 5 Jan. 2025 There’s already been a Washington Post piece reporting some deputies trying to limit the scope of tariffs behind the scenes, a trial balloon Trump has loudly shut down. —

Zack Beauchamp, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018 If Zumwalt’s depiction is accurate, Nixon floated a trial balloon to see whether the military brass would support him in a coup d’état against Congress. —

Ivan Perkins, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2014 See all Example Sentences for trial balloon

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of trial balloon was in 1826

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Trial balloon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trial%20balloon. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.

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