Meaning

The drift of a ship or aeroplane in a leeward direction..

Definitions by Sense

1. The drift of a ship or aeroplane in a leeward direction.
2. A varying degree or amount of freedom or flexibility.
3. (British) An adverse discrepancy or variation in a cumulative process, usually in the phrase make up leeway.

Example Sentences

I don't think we have a lot of leeway when it comes to proper formatting.

2005, James Gosling et al., The Java Language Specification, Third Edition, Prentice Hall PTR, →ISBN, section 15.4 “FP-strict Expressions”, Within an expression that is not FP-strict, some leeway is granted for an implementation to use an extended exponent range to represent intermediate results; […]

It was 1.6 [a.m.] when we got the road, and now we had 13 lost minutes to regain. But the "Condor" schedule has so much leeway that, with the diesel power, the loss was easily recouped.

"There's an hourly service to Nunthorpe and by the time you add in the Whitby trains as well there is hardly any leeway on the single line between Middlesbrough and Nunthorpe so it would involve quite significant infrastructure on the existing railway."

[...] there was plenty of opportunity to modernise in the years up to 1939, but since then the Second World War and its aftermath of expenditure rigidly controlled by Government held up any progress until at last the purse-strings were unloosed five years ago. But an enormous amount of leeway needs to be made up.

Word Forms

• leeways

Synonyms for leeway

Related Words

When Should You Use Leeway?

Use leeway when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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