leeway
Margin for error
Leeway is room to maneuver—the margin between where you are and where limits begin.
A deadline with leeway allows some lateness.
A budget with leeway can absorb overruns.
Give yourself some leeway on the estimate.
The word comes from sailing, where it originally meant a ship's sideways drift from its intended course.
Edge of a page
- latitudeGeographic or personal freedom
- slackAbsence of tautness
- bufferProtective intermediate space
- cushionStuffed fabric for comfort
allowance · tolerance · give · play · adjustment · variance · range · scope
Gradual movement, no direction
- sailingWind-propelled water travel
- seafaringTraveling by ocean vessel
- navigationDetermining position and course
- windwardFacing the wind
course · helm · rudder · tacking · headway · sternway · clearance · berth
Willingness to accept difference
- leniencyMildness in punishment
- indulgenceYielding to desire
- clemencyMerciful treatment of offenders
- graceEffortless beauty of motion
mercy · forbearance · patience · understanding · slack · second-chance · pardon · allowance
Careful judgment in speech
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
- independenceFreedom from external control
- choiceAct of selecting
license · permission · authority · free-hand · self-determination · agency · volition · prerogative
margin
Edge of a page
cushion · allowance · tolerance · give · play · adjustment · variance · range · scope · elasticity
drift
Gradual movement, no direction
- sailingWind-propelled water travel
- seafaringTraveling by ocean vessel
- navigationDetermining position and course
windward · course · helm · rudder · tacking · headway · sternway · clearance · berth · maneuvering
tolerance
Willingness to accept difference
- leniencyMildness in punishment
- indulgenceYielding to desire
- clemencyMerciful treatment of offenders
grace · mercy · forbearance · patience · understanding · slack · second-chance · pardon · allowance · exemption
discretion
Careful judgment in speech
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
- independenceFreedom from external control
choice · license · permission · authority · free-hand · self-determination · agency · volition · prerogative · empowerment
- freefree, freed, liberated, released, unchained
- freedomfreedom of choice, freedom of will, free will, expression, speech
- Nautical Idiomsbatten down the hatches, all hands on deck, smooth sailing, three sheets to the wind, in the same boat
- leewaywiggle room, latitude, slack, margin, play
- tolerancetolerance, forbearance, patience, understanding, empathy
- wayspathway, roadway, walkway, driveway, hallway
leewayrigidity
State of being unbending
restriction · inflexibility · strictness · constraint · limitation
leewaystranglehold
Oppressive, unbreakable control
red tape · hindrance · zero tolerance · embargo · prohibition
- give leewayAllow margin for error
- leeward sideDirection opposite the wind
- leeward coastSide away from prevailing wind