rationing
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The U.S. government has engaged in rationing usually only under conditions of extreme shortage or economic hardship; certain resources were rationed, for example, during World War II.
Explanation
Rationing is carefully controlling the amount of something that people use. During World War Two, Americans participated in the rationing of food, gasoline, and other materials. When something is in short supply, like rubber and metal during the Second World War, a government will often institute rationing to save that material, making sure there's enough of it for emergencies. Rationing during the war meant that people had a specific amount of food they could buy each week, and once an item was used up, they had to wait until they got a new ration book to buy more. Ration means "hand out in fixed amounts."
Vocabulary lists containing rationing
World War I
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World War II
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Economics
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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.
Doreen couldn’t wait for the end of rationing, especially for the day when nylon stockings would be available in England.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
People clearly aren’t yet rationing their fuel, or putting off that trip to the grocery store.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
"Everybody’s watching what's happening with jet fuel," said Walsh, urging regulators to be flexible if capacity restrictions and fuel rationing need to be introduced.
From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026
Oil prices more than doubled, there was fuel rationing, and the significant knock-on effects were compounded by a second oil shock in 1979 with the Iranian Revolution.
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
“Down Victoria Street is Parriss’s sweet shop, but with war rationing, Mr. Parriss doesn’t have much to offer. Neither does the butcher. Don’t know how Mum manages a larder stock, but she does somehow.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
