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
-
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
-
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 | McAsagrande@al.com, 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
-
My guess is that Netflix is using these Nike workouts as a trial balloon for future ventures into lifestyle content.
—Time, 9 Jan. 2023
-
Their remarks appeared to be a trial balloon to test how much opposition a formal nomination would face.
—Ernesto Londoño, New York Times, 12 July 2019
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trial balloon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Last Updated: