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
Tiarnach	-	Irish
TeÓFila	te-O-fee-lah	Spanish
Myrna	MUR-na	Irish
Proinsias	-	Irish
Shavonne	shə-VAWN (English)	Irish, English
Jela	-	Serbian, Croatian, Slovak