leeway
noun
lee·way
| \ ˈlē-ˌwā
\
\
Definition of leeway
1a
: off-course lateral movement of a ship when underway
The sailboat's centerboard helps to reduce leeway.
b
: the angle between the heading and the track of an airplane
2
: an allowable margin of freedom or variation : tolerance
The new rules allow managers greater leeway in making decisions.
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Examples of leeway in a Sentence
They give their students leeway to try new things.
you will be given some leeway in choosing how to carry out the project
Recent Examples on the Web
With promising arms waiting in the wings, that means a little less leeway for players suffering through rough patches on the mound. — Wells Dusenbury, sun-sentinel.com, "Amid recent struggles, Marlins move Trevor Richards to bullpen," 26 July 2019 Advocates for changing the rule contend that those initiatives set punishments for certain crimes, but did not specifically define accomplice liability for murder, giving the Legislature leeway to rewrite the law. — Alexei Koseff, SFChronicle.com, "California prosecutors push to overturn new law on who can be guilty of murder," 9 July 2019 Moderators weren’t as quick to interrupt and gave candidates more leeway to finish their responses. — cleveland.com, "Tulsi Gabbard takes on Kamala Harris and other viral moments from CNN’s Democratic debate," 1 Aug. 2019 In return for giving automakers more leeway, California would get a nationwide auto emissions program, at least as far as the four automakers are concerned. — Los Angeles Times, "California reaches climate deal with automakers, spurning Trump," 25 July 2019 Where organizations like businesses and hospitals sometimes have more leeway to work behind closed doors, attacks on government entities can be more immediately visible. — Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, "Ransomware Hits Georgia Courts As Municipal Attacks Spread," 1 July 2019 Conservatives hoped the court would use the opportunity to overturn the doctrine and give judges greater leeway to curb the federal government’s regulatory authority. — Matt Ford, The New Republic, "The Supreme Court Steps to the Right," 1 July 2019 Developing countries are allowed more time to open their economies and more leeway to subsidize exports. — Washington Post, "US, China revive trade talks with low hopes for progress," 29 July 2019 Kohan’s timing was perfect: New to developing original programming, the service granted her a lot of leeway. — Time, "Orange Is the New Black Is the Decade's Most Important Show," 22 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'leeway.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for leeway
leeway
noun
English Language Learners Definition of leeway
: freedom to do something the way you want to do it
See the full definition for leeway in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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