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

Bipartisan 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

Examples of gerrymandering in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There will be more extreme partisan gerrymandering, lopsided elections, less accountable government, and policies that hurt rather than help with everyday life. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 May 2026

But the solution to this really is to ban partisan gerrymandering. —CBS News, 4 May 2026

Last November, California approved Proposition 50, which redrew districts across the state in an effort to flip five seats from red to blue amid a nationwide gerrymandering war that will determine who controls the House of Representatives next year. —Grace Hase, Mercury News, 4 May 2026

Just a few years later, a GOP congressional leader decided to take racial gerrymandering to another level – political/partisan gerrymandering, which is legal as the Supreme Court looks the other way. —Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

gerrymander entry 2 + -ing entry 1

First Known Use

1812, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gerrymandering

• meandering
• philandering
• pandering
• slandering