gerrymander
noun
ger·ry·man·der
| \ ˈjer-ē-ˌman-dər
also ˈger-; orig ˈger-
\
also ˈger-; orig ˈger-
\
Definition of gerrymander
(Entry 1 of 2)
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
gerrymander
verb
gerrymandered;
gerrymandering\ ˈjer-ē-ˌman-d(ə-)riŋ
also ˈger- ; orig ˈger- \;
gerrymanders
also ˈger- ; orig ˈger- \;
gerrymanders
Definition of gerrymander (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to divide or arrange (a territorial unit) into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage : to subject to gerrymandering
The government gerrymandered urban districts to create rural majorities.— Matthew Reiss
2
: to divide or arrange (an area) into political units to give special advantages to one group
gerrymander a school district
Examples of gerrymander in a Sentence
Verb
gerrymandering urban districts to give rural voters a majorityRecent Examples on the Web: Noun
Doing so, in the case of Texas and Florida, would block some of the worst and most devastating partisan gerrymanders of the next decade. — Adam Eichen, The New Republic, "After 48 Years, Democrats Still Haven’t Gotten the Memo," 23 July 2019 DeLay engineered an aggressive gerrymander that created Marchant's district as safe Republican territory. — Tom Benning, Dallas News, "Kenny Marchant becomes fourth Texas congressman to retire as GOP exodus grows," 5 Aug. 2019 In this case, the Court’s signal was clear: No matter how much partisan gerrymanders disenfranchise voters, the Court will not interfere. — Scott Lemieux, Vox, "5 takeaways from the Supreme Court’s just-ended term," 29 June 2019 Behold the High Court’s unanimous stay on Friday of two appellate-court decisions that jumped an imminent Supreme Court ruling on partisan gerrymanders by striking down Congressional maps in Michigan and Ohio. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Judicial Gerrymander Rebuke," 25 May 2019 Some of these states, such as Maryland and Illinois, have notorious partisan gerrymanders. — Dan Mclaughlin, National Review, "How Much Does Gerrymandering Really Matter?," 28 June 2019 In so doing, the partisan gerrymanders here debased and dishonored our democracy, turning upside-down the core American idea that all governmental power derives from the people. — Ephrat Livni, Quartz, "The US Supreme Court says partisan gerrymandering is not its problem," 27 June 2019 Those gerrymanders helped the Republicans protect their majority in the House of Representatives until the Democratic wave in 2018 and kept them in control of all five of the state legislatures even though Democrats won more votes in those states. — David G. Savage, Anchorage Daily News, "With political power at stake, Supreme Court is set to rule on gerrymandering and the census," 8 June 2019 Political gerrymanders are older than the republic, and so are the criticisms. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "A Gerrymander Mulligan," 25 Mar. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
That makes prison gerrymandering a uniquely distortive force compared to soldiers and students. — Matt Ford, The New Republic, "How Prisons Inflate Rural Voters’ Power," 2 Aug. 2019 The court must decide whether gerrymandering state legislative and congressional districts in order to dilute the power of a certain party or people of a certain race violates a person's voting rights. — Grace Segers, CBS News, "Census question and gerrymandering among cases still to be decided by Supreme Court," 8 June 2019 Through disinformation campaigns, gerrymandering, breaching voter roles, and—oh yeah—targeting the voting machines themselves. — Emily Dreyfuss, WIRED, "Security News This Week: Browser Extensions Scraped Data From Millions of People," 20 July 2019 Utah Salt Lake City: A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that found voting districts in San Juan County were racially gerrymandered and violated the rights of Navajo voters. — USA TODAY, "Saving whales, Manson murder house: News from around our 50 states," 17 July 2019 Yet gerrymandering’s long history should not be mistaken for inevitability. — Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, "The Supreme Court Just Legitimized a Cornerstone Element of Voter Suppression," 3 July 2019 Ohio's 1st Congressional District is gerrymandered to favor the Republicans. — Jason Williams, Cincinnati.com, "PX column: Washington Republicans call little-known Greater Cincinnati Democrat a 'socialist loser.' Why that might be a losing message," 2 July 2019 The cases concerned two instances of redistricting, one in North Carolina, where plaintiffs said the map was gerrymandered to favor Republicans, and another in Maryland, where plaintiffs said it was designed to favor Democrats. — Louise Matsakis, WIRED, "Big Data Supercharged Gerrymandering. It Could Help Stop It, Too," 28 June 2019 After a legal challenge, state lawmakers and legislative employees were ordered to release damning emails that helped advocates prove the state’s voting maps were racially gerrymandered. — Lauren Mcgaughy, Dallas News, "'Hide the evidence': New Texas law may help GOP keep secrets about its redistricting strategy," 28 June 2019These 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.
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More Definitions for gerrymander
gerrymander
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of gerrymander
: to divide (a state, school district, etc.) into political units that give one group an unfair advantage
See the full definition for gerrymander in the English Language Learners Dictionary
gerrymander
noun
ger·ry·man·der
| \ ˈjer-ē-ˌman-dər also and originally ˈger-ē-
\
\
Legal Definition of gerrymander
(Entry 1 of 2)
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
gerrymander
transitive verb
gerrymandered;
gerrymandering
Legal Definition of gerrymander (Entry 2 of 2)
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
gerrymander a school district
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