on approval

1. To be returned if not satisfactory, as in They're offering custom-made shoes, manufactured from a computer design, on approval. This expression, applied nearly always to the purchase of goods, was first recorded in 1870.

Example Sentences

Members of Chancellor Merz's conservatives have warned that the insistence on approval by the Bundestag before reintroducing conscription could delay matters too much.

From BBC

State funding of $70 million depends on approval from legislators and Newsom, and the governor may require companies to spend the money on new hires, a position many publishers probably will resist.

From Los Angeles Times

Paramount’s special committee has discussed conditioning the deal on approval by a vote of a majority of minority shareholders.

From New York Times

Though Ms. Redstone is eager to reach a deal, it hinges on approval from Paramount’s board, which has for weeks been weighing its options with the help of advisers.

From New York Times

Moreover, given their arbitrary nature, their rules on approval, control and sanctions must be held to be unjustified restrictions on the freedom to provide services.

From BBC

Related Words

• empirical 
• preliminary 
• unproved