make a trial run

His first big break came when a U.S. marketer saw his patent and asked if he could make a trial run of 60,000 straws to be served with milk in the restaurant chain Denny's.

"Maybe I ought to answer him myself," said Hockley, "since I predicted that this would occur, and that we ought to make a trial run before turning our collective gray matter over to the Rykes."