"put out feelers" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to animals which use their feelers to gain awareness of their surroundings.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "puts out feelers",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "putting out feelers",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "put out feelers",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "put out feelers",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "put<,,put> out feelers"
      },
      "expansion": "put out feelers (third-person singular simple present puts out feelers, present participle putting out feelers, simple past and past participle put out feelers)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English light verb constructions",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I will put out feelers and see what I can find out about that.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To explore or watch for; to ask around; to investigate."
      ],
      "id": "en-put_out_feelers-en-verb-uRq29HsN",
      "links": [
        [
          "explore",
          "explore"
        ],
        [
          "watch",
          "watch"
        ],
        [
          "ask",
          "ask"
        ],
        [
          "investigate",
          "investigate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To explore or watch for; to ask around; to investigate."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "put out"
        },
        {
          "word": "feel"
        },
        {
          "word": "feeler"
        },
        {
          "word": "cat tap"
        },
        {
          "word": "trial balloon"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "test the waters"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-put out feelers.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fe/En-au-put_out_feelers.ogg/En-au-put_out_feelers.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/En-au-put_out_feelers.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "put out feelers"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to animals which use their feelers to gain awareness of their surroundings.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "puts out feelers",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "putting out feelers",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "put out feelers",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "put out feelers",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "put<,,put> out feelers"
      },
      "expansion": "put out feelers (third-person singular simple present puts out feelers, present participle putting out feelers, simple past and past participle put out feelers)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "put out"
    },
    {
      "word": "feel"
    },
    {
      "word": "feeler"
    },
    {
      "word": "cat tap"
    },
    {
      "word": "trial balloon"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English light verb constructions",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I will put out feelers and see what I can find out about that.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To explore or watch for; to ask around; to investigate."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "explore",
          "explore"
        ],
        [
          "watch",
          "watch"
        ],
        [
          "ask",
          "ask"
        ],
        [
          "investigate",
          "investigate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To explore or watch for; to ask around; to investigate."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-put out feelers.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fe/En-au-put_out_feelers.ogg/En-au-put_out_feelers.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/En-au-put_out_feelers.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "test the waters"
    }
  ],
  "word": "put out feelers"
}