Definition of "gerrymander" in Englisch

verb

1. (transitive, derogatory) To divide a geographic area into voting districts in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election.

2. (transitive, derogatory, by extension) To draw dividing lines for other types of districts in an unintuitive way to favor a particular group or for other perceived gain.

   • The superintendent helped gerrymander the school district lines in order to keep the children of the wealthy gated community in the better school all the way across town.

3. (transitive, derogatory, by extension) To change the franchise or voting system in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election.

4. (transitive, derogatory, by extension, chiefly UK and Ireland) To deliberately bring in voters of one's own party or displace voters of another party from a voting district in such a way as to give an unfair advantage to one party in an election.

noun

1. (derogatory) The act of gerrymandering.

2. (derogatory) A voting district skewed by gerrymandering.

   • Any citizen looking at a map of district 12 could immediately tell that it was a gerrymander because of the ridiculous way it cut across four counties while carving up neighborhoods in half.