“留余地”比喻不把话说死或不把事办绝，留下进退回旋的地步（leave some leeway，allow for some unforeseen circumstances）。常见用法为“留有足够余地（leave adequate leeway）”。

例句：

说话、办事时一定要给自己留余地。

We must leave some leeway when we talk about or do something.

制订预算时要留余地。

Leave some leeway when preparing the budget.

There is little leeway if anything goes wrong.

要是出了事，回旋余地可是很小。