gerrymandering
noun
ger·ry·man·der·ing
ˈjer-ē-ˌman-d(ə-)riŋ 
also ˈger-;
originally ˈger-
: the practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections
To an untrained eye, the proposed boundaries look like the etchings of a mapmaker on heavy pharmaceuticals. In reality, it's a masterpiece of diabolical gerrymandering.—
Carl Hiaasen
Carl HiaasenBipartisan gerrymandering following the 2000 reapportionment produced hundreds of safe Democratic seats, hundreds of safe Republican seats, and not much else.—Peter Beinart
compare cracking, packing
Peter BeinartExamples of gerrymandering in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Despite strong opposition from E.U. leaders over his anti-gay, Kremlin-friendly policies, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has won successive elections for 14 years, in part by gerrymandering constituencies and voting laws.
—TIME, 15 May 2024
American democracy, Bassin learned, had arguably been eroding in a similar manner for years, thanks to gerrymandering, the collapse of local news and rise of for-profit social media, and negative partisanship.
—Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for gerrymandering 
TIME, 15 May 2024
American democracy, Bassin learned, had arguably been eroding in a similar manner for years, thanks to gerrymandering, the collapse of local news and rise of for-profit social media, and negative partisanship.
—Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for gerrymandering
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gerrymandering.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Gerrymandering.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gerrymandering. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
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