ballon d'essai
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Germans would simply use the small offer, not as a ballon d'essai, but as a means of inaugurating direct negotiations.
From Time Magazine Archive
This little ballon d'essai met the fate of many such, for the manuscript was returned within a fortnight.
From William Hickling Prescott by Harry Thurston Peck
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.
From The Maids of Paradise by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
It was to have been a mere joke, a mere ballon d'essai.
From The Master of Mrs. Chilvers by Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka) Jerome
I would send out the thing as a ballon d'essai, to see if anyone would read it for itself, or would detect me underneath the disguise.
From Escape, and Other Essays by Arthur Christopher Benson
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