finger to the wind
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to test public opinion or gauge a situation
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Thử nghiệm ý kiến công chúng hoặc đánh giá tình hình
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: putting a finger up to see wind direction
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company put its finger to the wind before launching the new product.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “finger to the wind” mean?
to test public opinion or gauge a situation Literally: putting a finger up to see wind direction
Is “finger to the wind” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.