gerrymander

verb

Definition of gerrymandernext
as in to manipulate
to divide (a state, school district, etc.) into political units that give one group an unfair advantage gerrymandering urban districts to give rural voters a majority

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gerrymander Yet the gerrymandering push did little to blunt the Democratic wave. — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2026 The move is expected to further gerrymander the state and eliminate the only Republican congressional seat on the Eastern Shore. — CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026 Other key items include the congressional races in the Kansas City area, which were among those most affected by the attempts to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts by Republicans in the Missouri Legislature. — The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2026 In retaliation, the Democratic leaderships of California and Virginia began planning gerrymandering schemes of their own, hoping to offset the emerging Republican seat grab. — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for gerrymander
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gerrymander
  1. manipulate
  2. arrange
  3. negotiate
  4. scheme
  5. engineer
Verb
  • Rather than relying on separate mechanisms for navigating terrain and manipulating objects, the robots can use their flexible bodies and gripping claws to perform both functions.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026
  • These included being able to carry out cyberattacks at huge scale, manipulating politics, controlling robotics and drones, design of even smarter AI that outpaces human understanding, and even novel weapons development.
    — Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of manipulate
Verb
  • Different manufacturers develop their own interfaces, forcing operators to consider compatibility before arranging fuel transfers.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 13 Nov. 2026
  • Our meeting was arranged by Dana Gold, an attorney at the Government Accountability Project, a whistle-blower-advocacy organization.
    — Eyal Press, New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2026
Definition of arrange
Verb
  • This arrangement combines a larger front wheel for negotiating uneven surfaces with smaller overall proportions suited to tighter riding environments.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 Nov. 2026
  • According to various reports, Joe went out and negotiated a new contract without telling Troy.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of negotiate
Verb
  • The talk-show host, Stiller and Grande portray three siblings scheming for wealthy dad De Niro’s inheritance through passive-aggressive one-liners and a lot of derisive applause.
    — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Then, there’s the matter of out-scheming and out-managing Kirby Smart, the SEC’s winningest coach by win percentage.
    — Mike Griffith, AJC.com, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of scheme
Verb
  • The researchers plan to improve heat transfer, develop more energy-efficient actuation systems, and engineer higher-performance shape-memory alloys.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 7 Nov. 2026
  • In this way, organoids that are engineered to represent the brain, for example, can be modeled after distinct regions, with different types of neurons capable of signaling across regions.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of engineer

Browse Nearby Words

germy
gerrymander
gerrymandered
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Gerrymander.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gerrymander. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
speech-bubble-untangle
Simplify The Convoluted Expression Quiz A quiz that’s as “uncomplicated as a round de...
See All