test the water
IDIOM
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English Dictionarytest the water(s)to find out what people's opinions of something are before you ask them to do something [TahlilGaran] Advanced Learner's Dictionary ▲
Idiomstest the watertest the water/watersto try to discover what people think about an idea before you do anything about it, or to try to discover what a situation is really like before you become very involved in it.
I mentioned my idea to a couple of friends as a way of testing the water and they were very enthusiastic about it. Perhaps you should go to a couple of meetings to test the waters before you decide whether to join the club.to try something new. We are testing the waters to see if online ads increase sales.Related vocabulary:
float an ideaEtymology: based on the literal meaning of test the waters (= to put your toe into water to see how cold it is) [TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲
test the watercheck to see if a plan will work before you start
The fruit juice company tested the water before they began to sell the lemon fruit juice.
[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲