ballon d'essai

[ba-lawn de-se]

noun

French.

plural

ballons d'essai 

1. trial balloon.

ballon d'essai

/ bæˈlõ dɛˈseɪ /

noun

1. a project or policy put forward experimentally to gauge reactions to it Compare trial balloon

Word History and Origins

Origin of ballon d'essai¹

C19: from French, literally: trial balloon

Example Sentences

This little ballon d'essai met the fate of many such, for the manuscript was returned within a fortnight.

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That was a ballon d'essai, as they call it, and they think it was a very happy one.

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The first born is a ballon d'essai.

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The Germans would simply use the small offer, not as a ballon d'essai, but as a means of inaugurating direct negotiations.

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She was not a ballon d’essai; she was literally the whole show; and if she duplicated the sensational success of poor little Miss Claridge, we had nothing to fear.

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