Crossword clues for gerrymander
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Gerrymander \Ger`ry*man"der\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Gerrymandered; p. pr. & vb. n. Gerrymandering.] To divide (a State) into districts for the choice of representatives, in an unnatural and unfair way, with a view to give a political party an advantage over its opponent.
Note: This was done in Massachusetts at a time when Elbridge
Gerry was governor, and was attributed to his
influence, hence the name; though it is now known that
he was opposed to the measure.
--Bartlett.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1812 as both a noun and verb, American English, from Elbridge Gerry + (sala)mander. Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, was lampooned when his party redistricted the state in a blatant bid to preserve an Antifederalist majority. One Essex County district resembled a salamander, and a newspaper editor dubbed it Gerrymander. Related: Gerrymandered; gerrymandering.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context pejorative English) The act of gerrymandering. 2 (context pejorative English) A voting district skewed by gerrymandering. vb. 1 (context transitive pejorative English) 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 (context transitive pejorative by extension English) To draw dividing lines for other types of districts in an unintuitive way to favor a particular group or for other perceived gain.
WordNet
n. an act of gerrymandering (dividing a voting area so as to give your own party an unfair advantage)
v. divide unfairly and to one's advantage; of voting districts
Usage examples of "gerrymander".
Cut a counterflow, run a detour down that privileged, gerrymandered isthmus straight into the marina.
The current congressional redistricting effort is nothing more than political gerrymandering of racial quotas in specific districts to secure a Democratic majority in Congress.
The lines were redrawn in a heated sequence, but in the process I was gerrymandered out of my district.
In a dozen obvious ways it is gerrymandered in the interest of the moneyed class.
With a little imagination, the roadblocks might have been gerrymandered to force one group of outlaws off to the south and another to the north.
In 1924 He gerrymandered the elections, and He has oppressed minorities in the Tyrol and the North-East: He sent our soldiers to take part in the rape of Somalia and Libya, drenching their hands in the blood of innocents, He has doubled the number of the bureaucracy in order to tame the bourgeoisie, He has abolished local government, interfered with the judiciary, and purportedly has divinely stopped the flow of lava on Mt Etna by a mere act of will.