How to Use test the waters in a Sentence

test the waters

phrase
  • There is guidance already on the frequency of testing the water.
    — Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 15 July 2026
  • The workers must then disinfect the pipe with chlorine and test the water’s quality for safety.
    — Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026
  • The county will continue to test the water daily starting Monday if the levels come back the same or worse.
    — Laura Horne, Charlotte Observer, 16 July 2026
  • The late introduction is a common practice as a way to test the waters or stake out political positions.
    — Brian Delp, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
  • Indecisive decorators can test the waters by ordering a larger wallpaper sample and living with it for a week.
    — Kelsey Mulvey, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026
  • LifePods enter a market already testing the waters, literally.
    — New Atlas, 6 July 2026
  • Finance chiefs spend months refining the narrative, sharpening the metrics, and testing the waters with institutional investors to gauge whether the investment case will hold up once the market opens.
    — Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 22 July 2026
  • For people already dealing with untreated hearing loss, this offers a low cost, low commitment way to test the waters before deciding whether a dedicated prescription hearing aid is worth the investment.
    — Allison Palmer july 2, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 July 2026
  • Out of contract next summer, and with Barcelona looking for cash, Spurs could do worse than to test the waters and unite Torres with his international team-mate Pedro Porro.
    — Thom Harris, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • In 2025, the Surfrider Foundation tested the water quality in 14 different cities and counties across California.
    — Alexiah Syrai Olsen, Sacbee.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board will continue testing the waters in and around Lake Natoma to determine when levels are no longer elevated, in partnership with California State Parks.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 9 July 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'test the waters.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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