gerrymander
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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gerrymanders,
present (3rd person singular)
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gerrymandered,
past participle, past
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gerrymandering
present participle
verb
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to divide the constituencies of (a voting area) so as to give one party an unfair advantage
-
to manipulate or adapt to one's advantage
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gerrymandersimple
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gerrymanderssimple
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have gerrymanderedperfect
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has gerrymanderedperfect
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am gerrymanderingprogressive
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are gerrymanderingprogressive
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is gerrymanderingprogressive
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have been gerrymanderingperfect progressive
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has been gerrymanderingperfect progressive
Past
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gerrymanderedsimple
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had gerrymanderedperfect
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was gerrymanderingprogressive
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were gerrymanderingprogressive
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had been gerrymanderingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
Some politicians change the boundaries of their voting districts in order to benefit themselves or their political party. To manipulate the boundaries like this — often viewed as unfair — is to gerrymander. The verb gerrymander first appeared in 1812 when Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry redrew district boundaries, hoping it would help his party in an upcoming senate election. Then somebody noticed that the new district looked like a salamander, so they combined Gerry and -mander to create the new word gerrymander. And then a newspaper printed a cartoon with a giant salamander making fun of Gerry, which is what happens to politicians who don’t behave.
Vocabulary lists containing gerrymander
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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.
See Examples For:
On Monday the Court stopped a racial gerrymander in New York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Opponents of the retaliatory gerrymander include former California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2025
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
When I asked Lewis about this on a 2019 panel at the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, he worked himself into a moral dudgeon over being accused of a racial gerrymander.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2021
Will those who seek to excuse the injustice done to the minority in each electorate by the present system of election seriously contend that the same argument justifies the gerrymander?
From Proportional Representation Applied To Party Government by T. R. (Thomas Ramsden) Ashworth
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is holding dozens of seminars across eight states that include how to identify gerrymanders using mapping software, said Jeff Loperfido, the group's senior counsel.
From Reuters ● Aug. 13, 2021
A federal court eventually struck some boundaries down as racial gerrymanders and the Supreme Court affirmed that decision.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2018
In some states, however, such as Michigan, the gerrymanders have been so heavy-handed and awkward that “those dikes could break,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2018
The group has also joined lawsuits claiming racial gerrymanders of House districts in Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, and is mounting grass-roots efforts to enact electoral reforms.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2018
A striking instance of this is furnished by the power to nullify legislative gerrymanders.
From The American Judiciary by Simeon E. Baldwin, LLD
In two separate cases, Earls and Riggs succeeded in getting courts to strike down gerrymandered election districts in their state.
From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2024
The judges’ evaluation of whether the maps were gerrymandered was more limited.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2022
The map they form can at times resemble gerrymandered congressional districts, with it not unusual for neighboring farms to get water from canals that lead to mountains and reservoirs in opposite directions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2021
There are no gerrymandered voting districts in elections for senators.
From Textbooks ● Jul. 28, 2021
In Ohio, McKinley lost his seat, partly from the revulsion of feeling, but more because the Democrats, who controlled the State Legislature, had gerrymandered his district against him.
From The New Nation by William E. Dodd
If we want durable protection for the rights of all voters and durable constraints on racial gerrymandering, we need an act of Congress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
In 2020, Virginia voters amended the state constitution to put redistricting in the hands of a bipartisan commission to reduce partisan gerrymandering.
From Slate ● Apr. 22, 2026
Speaking with a local radio show, he said “I don’t know if you know what gerrymandering is, but it’s not good.”
From Salon ● Apr. 22, 2026
But in the past, the court also said racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional under the 14th and 15th Amendments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
The Croats found themselves no match for the astute Magyars who resorted to packed diets, gerrymandering, bribery, and forgery.
From The Russian Revolution; the Jugo-Slav Movement by Robert Joseph Kerner
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