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1894 Brewer’s / P / Pilot Balloon (A)

Pilot Balloon (A)

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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.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Pilcher
Pilgarlic or Pilld Garlic (A)
Pilgrim Fathers (The)
Pilgrimage
Pillar Saints
Pillar to Post
Pillars of Heaven (The)
Pillars of Hercules (The)
Pillory
Pilot
Pilot Balloon (A)
Pilot Fish
Pilot that weathered the Storm (The)
Pilpay or Bidpay
Pimlico (London)
Pimlico
Pin (A)
Pin
Pin Money
Pinabello or Pinabel (in Orlando Furioso)
Pinchbeck