verb
make some preliminary investigations or test the waters (Freq. 1)
• Hypernyms: ↑explore
• Verb Frames:
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Something ——s
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Somebody ——s
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put out feelers phrase
to begin to find out what people think about something you are hoping to do
They have started putting out feelers to local residents and interest groups.
Thesaurus: to try to find out informationsynonym
Main entry: feelers
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put out ˈfeelers idiom
(informal) to try to find out what people think about a particular course of action before you do it
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The government has put out some feelers to gauge people's reactions to the plan.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.