How to use leeway in a sentence

10 example sentences · noun

Leeway means the drift of a ship or aeroplane in a leeward direction. Example: “I don't think we have a lot of leeway when it comes to proper formatting.”

Examples of leeway by meaning

nounA varying degree or amount of freedom or flexibility.

I don't think we have a lot of leeway when it comes to proper formatting.
But the "Condor" schedule has so much leeway that, with the diesel power, the loss was easily recouped.1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 49

nounAn adverse discrepancy or variation in a cumulative process, usually in the phrase make up leeway.

But an enormous amount of leeway needs to be made up.1960 April, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 209

More sentences with leeway

The school's cast iron policy on admissions fees left no leeway for needy students.From the entry cast iron
There was no wiggle room here, no leeway, no margin for error.1999, Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins, Apollyon: The Destroyer is Unleashed, →ISBN, page 145. From the entry wiggle room
This definition provides a lot of leeway, but at the same time constrains the possible scope of uptalk.2016, Paul Warren, “Introduction – Why ‘Uptalk’?”, in Uptalk: The Phenomenon of Rising Intonation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press…. From the entry uptalk
But that wasn't good enough: it gave him no leeway.1971, George Ewart Evans, quoting auctioneer Aston Gaze, Tools of Their Trades: An Oral History of Men at Work c. 1900, Taplinger…. From the entry comb
The leeway is necessary because, as we will see in later discussion, the shape of uptalk is variable and quite possibly differs from one variety of English to another.2016, Paul Warren, “Introduction – Why ‘Uptalk’?”, in Uptalk: The Phenomenon of Rising Intonation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press…. From the entry uptalk
I made up my mind that as they were obvious shonkies, I wouldn't give any leeway and, if they didn't pay on the spot, I would disconnect supply.2010, Barry McMillan, Chinaman's Lagoon, page 323. From the entry shonky
Langley said, “but they are so demanding.” And while not every Baptist preacher would attempt mixing MarK Twain with Micah, such is the leeway granted editor emerituses.1999 September 22, Joe Murray, “On the Road: Right at home at the First Baptist”, in Longview News-Journal, page 2A, columns 4–5. From the entry emeritus

Meaning of leeway

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

Full definition of leeway

Questions about leeway in a sentence

How do you use leeway in a sentence?: Leeway is used as a noun. For example: “I don't think we have a lot of leeway when it comes to proper formatting.”
What is a short sentence with leeway?: “But that wasn't good enough: it gave him no leeway.”
What does leeway mean?: Leeway means the drift of a ship or aeroplane in a leeward direction.

Adapted from Wiktionary: leeway (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use leeway in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/leeway. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.