Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

manoeuvre

1 noun
     
ma‧noeu‧vre1 British English ; maneuver American English
1 [countable] a skilful or careful movement that you make, for example in order to avoid something or go through a narrow space:
A careful driver will often stop talking before carrying out a complex manoeuvre.
2 [uncountable and countable] a skilful or carefully planned action intended to gain an advantage for yourself:
They tried by diplomatic maneuvers to obtain an agreement.
3

manoeuvres

[plural]PM military activities, such as pretending to fight a battle, which are done as practice or training [= exercises]:
Large-scale military manoeuvres are being carried out near the border.
on manoeuvres
troops on night manoeuvres
4

room for manoeuvre/freedom of manoeuvre

the possibility of changing your plans or decisions in order to achieve what you want:
As I see it, Lisa, you don't really have a great deal of room for manoeuvre.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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