Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
try it on the dog en · VERB
Meanings
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(colloquial) To try something (especially a theatrical play) on a less important audience to gauge the likelihood of success before committing to general release or approval.
They had feared to make the venture with it at the California theatre in San Francisco where they had been favorites, so they brought it to Salt Lake to "try it on the dog."
1905, John Shanks Lindsay, The Mormons and the Theatre, page 129:
Forms
Relateds
dog town