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gerrymander

American  
[jer-i-man-der, ger-] / ˈdʒɛr ɪˌmæn dər, ˈgɛr- /

noun

  1. U.S. Politics. the dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.

verb (used with object)

  1. U.S. Politics. to subject (a state, county, etc.) to a gerrymander.

gerrymander British  
/ ˈdʒɛrɪˌmændə /

verb

  1. to divide the constituencies of (a voting area) so as to give one party an unfair advantage

  2. to manipulate or adapt to one's advantage

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. an act or result of gerrymandering

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
gerrymander Cultural  

  1. To change the boundaries of legislative districts to favor one party over another. Typically, the dominant party in a state legislature (which is responsible for drawing the boundaries of congressional districts) will try to concentrate the opposing party's strength in as few districts as possible, while giving itself likely majorities in as many districts as possible.

Other Word Forms

  • gerrymanderer noun
  • gerrymandering noun

Etymology

Origin of gerrymander

1812, after E. Gerry (governor of Massachusetts, whose party redistricted the state in 1812) + (sala)mander, from the fancied resemblance of the map of Essex County, Mass., to this animal, after the redistricting

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

On Monday the Court stopped a racial gerrymander in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 3, 2026

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Alabama can’t use its congressional map with only one majority Black district, reasoning it was likely a discriminatory racial gerrymander that runs afoul of the Voting Rights Act.

From Washington Times • Jun. 8, 2023

Would open nonpartisan primaries using ranked voting eliminate some of the incentives to gerrymander?

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2022

And when you present maps to a court, judges are struggling to identify what’s a gerrymander mathematically—many of them inspect gerrymanders visually and say this just doesn’t pass the smell test.

From Slate • May 24, 2022

It was from this incident that the word "gerrymander," so often heard in politics in these days, took its name.

From The Greater Republic A History of the United States by Morris, Charles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.