gerrymander

noun ger·ry·man·der \ ˈjer-ē-ˌman-dər also ˈger- ; orig ˈger- \

|Updated on: 10 Jul 2018

Examples: gerrymander in a Sentence

Definition of gerrymander

1 : the act or method of gerrymandering

2 : a district or pattern of districts varying greatly in size or population as a result of gerrymandering

three new gerrymanders

See gerrymander defined for kids

Recent Examples of gerrymander from the Web

That district, which is held by Democratic state Rep. Ramon Romero, was deemed an impermissible racial gerrymander because lawmakers illegally used race as the predominant factor in deciding its boundaries.

— alexa ura, star-telegram, "Texas elections unchanged despite racial gerrymander ruling for Fort Worth House district," 3 July 2018
This year, political reformers hoped the high court would take a stand against extreme partisan gerrymanders.

— david g. savage, latimes.com, "Supreme Court this year gave a preview of things to come: Wins for Trump, employers and Republicans," 1 July 2018
And its punt on two partisan gerrymander challenges avoided a disastrous judicial intervention into the political purview of state legislatures.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "The Supreme Court’s Banner Year," 27 June 2018
More from Stern: For decades, the Supreme Court has held that Section 2 [of the Voting Rights Act] outlaws gerrymanders that dilute the votes of minority citizens. ...

— anne branigin, The Root, "Supreme Court Punts on Partisan Gerrymandering as Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas Set Sights on Dismantling Voting Rights Act," 25 June 2018
And only the courts can do anything to remedy the problem, because gerrymanders benefit those who control the political branches.

— matt ford, The New Republic, "The Consequences of the Supreme Court’s Punt on Gerrymandering," 18 June 2018
The justices left the door open for future challenges to partisan gerrymanders.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: From ‘I alone can fix it’ to ‘Congress alone can fix it,’ Trump passes the buck on family separation," 19 June 2018
Where Gill addressed Republican manipulation of state legislative maps, Benisek instead focused on a Democratic gerrymander of a federal congressional district.

— matt ford, The New Republic, "The Consequences of the Supreme Court’s Punt on Gerrymandering," 18 June 2018
Pennsylvania became much more favorable to Democrats after the state Supreme Court ruled in January that its congressional map was an unconstitutional gerrymander and redrew it.

— eliza collins, USA TODAY, "Trump-friendly immigration hardliner could win Democratic primary in Pennsylvania on Tuesday," 14 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gerrymander.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of gerrymander

Elbridge Gerry + salamander; from the shape of an election district formed during Gerry's governorship of Massachusetts

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1812

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

gerrymander

verb

Definition of gerrymander

gerrymandered; gerrymandering \-d(ə-)riŋ\

transitive verb

1 : to divide (a territorial unit) into election districts to give one political party an electoral majority in a large number of districts while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition in as few districts as possible

2 : to divide (an area) into political units to give special advantages to one group