send up a trial balloon

to suggest something and see how people respond to it; to test public opinion. Mary had an excellent idea, but when we sent up a trial balloon, the response was very negative. Don't start the whole project without sending up a trial balloon.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Altan	-	Turkish
Abel	AY-bəl (English), ah-BEL (Spanish), ə-BEL (Portuguese)	English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Drusa	-	Ancient Roman
Casper	KAHS-pər (Dutch)	Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
OtÁVio	-	Portuguese (Brazilian)
Vladimer	-	Georgian