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.

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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

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noun

1. an act or result of gerrymandering

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.

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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

But in the past, the court also said racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional under the 14th and 15th Amendments.

From Los Angeles Times

Query injection can in some cases take place in real time when a user prompt -- "book me a hotel reservation" -- is gerrymandered by a hostile actor into something else -- "wire $100 to this account."

From Barron's

On Tuesday night, he promised to “work across party lines to find a national solution to the age-old plague of gerrymandering, and in particular, to the more recent affliction of mid-decade gerrymandering.”

From Los Angeles Times

In late January 2023, the day after the legislature petitioned the Supreme Court to rehear the gerrymandering case, Newby and three of his colleagues, all Republicans, flew to Honolulu.

From Salon

He stays active in business ventures and issues like fighting gerrymandering.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• contrive
• engineer
• finesse
• manipulate