Brewer's: Pilot Balloon

(A). A political feeler; a hint thrown out to ascertain public opinion on some moot point.

“As this gentleman is in the confidence of ministers, it is fair to assume that he was deputed to start this statement as a pilot balloon.” —Newspaper leader, 1885.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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