How to Use trial balloon in a Sentence

trial balloon

noun

• She's been floating trial balloons about a possible run for Congress.
• But then the White House publicly struck down the trial balloon.
  — Deirdre Walsh, CNN, 18 Mar. 2018
• The white paper is a sort of trial balloon that goes public with the idea.
  — Isabella Cueto, STAT, 15 Mar. 2024
• No one wants to hear a trial balloon with Christmas tunes that haven’t already stood the test of time.
  — John Adamian, courant.com, 9 Dec. 2017
• The same would hold true if the Pads, as has been floated via trial balloon, were to embrace red, white and blue.
  — Tom Krasovic, sandiegouniontribune.com, 18 May 2018
• If this is a trial balloon from Johnson, it looks designed to be shot down.
  — Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2019
• Call it the trial balloon that launched a thousand punctures.
  — Michael McGough Los Angeles Times (tns), Star Tribune, 3 Aug. 2020
• Pound's trial balloon landed with a thud felt far from Ottawa, and with good reason.
  — Tim Dahlberg, Star Tribune, 28 Jan. 2021
• The Sutphin gates are a trial balloon in a wider campaign against fare evasion, a pet obsession of the mayor’s.
  — Clio Chang, Curbed, 7 Dec. 2023
• So, the Lakers floated their three leading candidates for coach to the media this week as a sort of trial balloon.
  — Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2022
• The Papazians’ next trip to Yerevan came in February 2019: a three-month trial balloon, to see how the adjustment went.
  — Neil Hauer, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2020
• But before 8:00 am ET this morning, Trump popped this trial balloon.
  — Chuck Todd, NBC News, 23 Oct. 2017
• Arpaio is no stranger to floating trial balloons for runs at higher office.
  — Jeremy Raff, The Atlantic, 26 Oct. 2017
• The Comey question almost seemed like it was planted for Trump to float a trial balloon, and both Bannon and Price were clearly holding on for dear life.
  — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2017
• Given that logic, the best approach might be to ignore Trump’s trial balloon (so stop reading!).
  — Aziz Huq, Vox, 31 Oct. 2018
• If Patrick is just floating a trial balloon, here are a few reasons why, with about 90 days until the New Hampshire primary, the balloon won’t float.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 13 Nov. 2019
• Bowden’s trial balloon included the end of the American League and the National League.
  — Steve Silverman, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2023
• Their proposal last week read less as a change in strategic thinking and more as a trial balloon aimed at the new power brokers in Washington.
  — Brentan Alexander, Forbes, 28 Apr. 2021
• Our fears that the crackdown on gay rights was merely a trial balloon aimed to see how far Putin could go without meaningful opposition from the West have proven to be true.
  — Yelena Goltsman, Vox, 15 June 2018
• The Democrat's field for governor is so lacking in star power that the party has sent up trial balloons about Jerry Springer running.
  — Jeff Darcy, cleveland.com, 13 Sep. 2017
• Later in the call, Chapek seemed about to rule out the possibility this could be a trial balloon for future efforts but then stopped shy of making that commitment.
  — Steven Zeitchik, Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2020
• Both trial balloons, which were perceived as slightly desperate, were quickly shot down, and for good reason.
  — Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 15 Dec. 2017
• While the driving ban was lifted by official decree, news of the guardianship change was leaked as a trial balloon—first to the Saudi newspaper Okaz and then to foreign outlets.
  — The Economist, 18 July 2019
• The plan wasn’t much of a formal proposal but a trial balloon launched by then-university president Joab Thomas.
  — Michael Casagrande | [e-mail], al, 1 Oct. 2020
• Republishing his essay on state media can be seen as a trial balloon.
  — Anne Stevenson-Yang, Forbes, 1 Sep. 2021
• The trial balloons appear in quick succession now, with a flurry going up almost every day.
  — Mike Finger, ExpressNews.com, 9 May 2020
• The trial balloon on delaying the election was quickly shot down not only by Democrats but also by the top Republicans in Congress.
  — Fox News, 1 Aug. 2020
• The Pac-12 recently floated a trial balloon in regard to 9 a.m. football kickoffs.
  — oregonlive.com, 7 Aug. 2019
• Lindsay Schubiner, a program director for the Western States Center, says this could be a trial balloon.
  — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 15 Aug. 2022
• But the fact that these particular trial balloons popped loudly is also a good reminder not to make too much just yet of any of the changes that are under discussion, or the precise figures behind them.
  — Ron Lieber, New York Times, 2 Nov. 2017

Last Updated: 18 Dec 2024