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Examples of trial balloon in a Sentence
She's been floating trial balloons about a possible run for Congress.
Recent Examples on the Web
Vehicles the company bet its future on are a strange place for a trial balloon.
—Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 8 Oct. 2024
The source disputed speculation that Trump nominated Gaetz as a trial balloon to draw scrutiny away from other controversial picks, such as Hegseth, Kennedy or former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), who will be nominated to serve as director of national intelligence.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 20 Nov. 2024
Weeks after floating a huge trial balloon, Comcast followed through this morning, announcing plans to spin off most of its linear cable networks into a separate company, including such stalwarts as CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network and SyFy.
—David Bloom, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
The trial balloon was shot down by both the mayor and other council members, twelve of whom had joined Clarke and Parker in writing a letter to Kenney regarding police reform in June 2020.
—Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1826, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near trial balloon
Cite this Entry
“Trial balloon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trial%20balloon. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.
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