trial balloon
Syllables: trial bal·loonUK/ˌtɹaɪəl bəˈluːn/US/ˌtɹaɪəl bəˈlun/
trial balloon noun: a small balloon released into the sky to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air before a manned ascent in a larger balloon; a ballon d'essai.
Noun
trial balloon (plural trial balloons)
- A small balloon released into the sky to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air before a manned ascent in a larger balloon; a ballon d'essai.
- For many weeks in succession the little trial balloons thrown up to show the course of the wind were driven back upon the shores of France.1870, F[ulgence] Marion, “The Necrology of Aeronautics”, in Wonderful Balloon Ascents: Or, The Conquest of the Skies. A History of Balloons and Balloon Voyages. From the French (Illustrated Library...
- A small trial balloon was then sent up and its course followed by a thousand eyes. In one bound it flew against the bell-tower of the town-house, then rose again and made directly for the Northern Ocean.1872 August, “Travels in the Air. Concluding Paper.”, in Lippincott’s Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, volume X, Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott and Co., →OCLC, page...
- An idea, suggestion, or prospective action, product, etc., offered to an audience or group in order to test whether it generates acceptance or interest.
- "The originality of the plan and views of the author [Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent], and, above all, the perfect independence of its execution," are, according to the narrator in the Bulletin, the chief features of this new production; and the summary sketch of it which has been published...1826 July, “Art. VI.—Remarks on M. le Colonel Bory de St-Vincent’s Proposed Species of the Genus Homo.”, in David Brewster, editor, The Edinburgh Journal of Science, volume V, number I, Edinburgh...
- If any stronger presumption that his brochure is a trial-balloon of the present ministry be required, it will be found in the pages 19 and 20, wherein Sir Howard Douglas and Mr. Bliss receive a full volley of foul-mouthed Billingsgate.1832 October, “The Canada Corn Trade”, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume VI, number XXXIII, London: James Fraser […], →OCLC, page 365, column 2
- Synonyms:
- ballon d'essai, feeler
Examples of trial balloon in a sentence
- He manufactured a small trial balloon of silk, which he covered with an elastic varnish, and he had the satisfaction of seeing it rise up in the air, until it disappeared in the clouds.[1877], T. C. Hepworth, “Voyages in Cloudland”, in Robert Brown, editor, Science for All, London; Paris; New York, N.Y.: Cassell, Petter...
- Rampont, at the Hôtel des Postes, hastens to send off a few trial balloons for the purpose of ascertaining the course of the wind.1892, Robert Lowry Sibbet, “Paris, December 26th, 1870”, in The Siege of Paris by an American Eye-witness … In Three Parts, Harrisburg...
- Possibly the story is given out tentatively by way of testing the public mind—as a species of "trial balloon," if we may borrow a French term for this sort of experimentation with public sentiment.1908 December 12, “A New Deal in the Pacific”, in Alfred Holman, editor, The Argonaut, volume LXIII, number 1654, San Francisco, Calif....
- If the Board had the right which it claims to divest the Court of its jurisdiction, then the Board's orders would become nothing more than trial balloons.1938 November 28, Frederick H. Wood, Louis J. Colombo, Alfred McCormack, and Thomas T. Cooke, attorneys for petitioner, “Point II: The...
Synonyms of trial balloon
Forms of trial balloon
| plural | trial balloons |
|---|---|
| alternative form | trial-balloon |
Origin of trial balloon
Calque of French ballon d’essai (“small balloon released into the sky to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air before a manned ascent in a larger balloon; (figuratively) prospective action to test acceptance”): ballon (“balloon”), essai (“trial, try; assay”).
Words that rhyme with trial balloon
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- croon
- blue moon
- boon
- monsoon
- noon
- pontoon
- raccoon
- tribune
- attune
- dragoon
- hoon
- immune
- picayune
- platoon
- soon
- swoon
- tycoon
- afternoon
- baboon
- commune
- doubloon
- harpoon
- jejune
- pantaloon
- picaroon
- shalloon
- bassoon
- buffoon
- cocoon
- dabloon
- entune
- gadroon
- hewn
- impugn
- jargoon
- june
- lacune
- last chance saloon
- lune
- macaroon
- man in the moon
- maroon
- poon
- puccoon
- ratoon
- scone
- toon
- troon
Questions about trial balloon
- What does trial balloon mean?
- Trial balloon means a small balloon released into the sky to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air before a manned ascent in a larger balloon; a ballon d'essai.
- How do you use trial balloon in a sentence?
- He manufactured a small trial balloon of silk, which he covered with an elastic varnish, and he had the satisfaction of seeing it rise up in the air, until it disappeared in the clouds.
- What part of speech is trial balloon?
- Trial balloon is a noun.
- How do you pronounce trial balloon?
- Trial balloon is pronounced /ˌtɹaɪəl bəˈluːn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of trial balloon?
- The plural of trial balloon is trial balloons.
Words near trial balloon in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: trial balloon (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-trial balloon.ogg.
Cite this entry: “trial balloon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trial_balloon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.