lee ‧ way /ˈliːweɪ/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
1 . freedom to do things in the way you want to
leeway in
The government does not have much leeway in foreign policy.
leeway to do something
Try to give teenagers more leeway to make their own decisions.
2 . make up leeway British English if you have to make up leeway, you have to do extra work because you have not done as much work as you should have done:
We’ve got quite a lot of leeway to make up.