ration

[rash-uhn, rey-shuhn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ration ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a fixed allowance of provisions or food, especially for soldiers or sailors or for civilians during a shortage: a daily ration of meat and bread.

an allotted amount: They finally saved up enough gas rations for the trip.

rations,

provisions: Enough rations were brought along to feed all the marchers.
Chiefly South Atlantic States.food or meals: The old hotel still has the best rations in town.

verb (used with object)

to supply, apportion, or distribute as rations (often followed by out): to ration out food to an army.

to supply or provide with rations: to ration an army with food.

to restrict the consumption of (a commodity, food, etc.): to ration meat during war.

to restrict the consumption of (a consumer): The civilian population was rationed while the war lasted.

Origin of ration

1540–50; < French < Latin ratiōn- (stem of ratiō); see reason

Related formsun·ra·tioned, adjective

Synonyms for ration

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ration ON THESAURUS.COM

1, 2. portion, allotment. 1, 3. See food. 4. mete, dole, allot.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for rationing

restrict, allot, conserve, control, divvy, apportion, deal, proportion, distribute, share, quota, dole, budget, limit, allocate, mete, save, issue, assign, prorate

Examples from the Web for rationing

Contemporary Examples of rationing

It could be that doctors are rationing health care—refusing to schedule appointments.
How Obamacare Helped Crash the Economy
Daniel Gross
June 25, 2014
Because it has, in the past, been a tool of racism and colonialism, and in the present, is a means of rationing health care.
Were Christians Right About Gay Marriage All Along?
Jay Michaelson
May 27, 2014
And the Republican attacks on the health-care bill are replete with paranoia about rationing and death panels.
The Right-Wing Backlash Against John Roberts
Robert Shrum
July 3, 2012
Meanwhile, horror stories about the rationing of cancer care by the American insurance industry abound.
The Latest Health Care Lie
Michelle Goldberg
August 31, 2009
Another charge about keeping outcomes data is that it will lead to rationing.
Return of the Health Care Villains
Michael Kinsley
March 18, 2009

Historical Examples of rationing

There is scarcely any meat but horse-meat, and the government is now rationing.
Christmas: Its Origin and Associations
William Francis Dawson
At present, it is only attached to my command for convenience of rationing and pay.
Under Wellington's Command
G. A. Henty
"And here's just the man to take charge of rationing the water," said Cooper.
Shaman
Robert Shea
She's done it simply because I told her to-night that rationing is definitely coming in.
The Title
Arnold Bennett
Under the present system of rationing, this demand for moderation does not seem excessive.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 152, June 20, 1917
Various

British Dictionary definitions for rationing

ration

noun

a fixed allowance of food, provisions, etc, esp a statutory one for civilians in time of scarcity or soldiers in time of wara tea ration
(as modifier)a ration book

a sufficient or adequate amountyou've had your ration of television for today

verb (tr)

(often foll by out) to distribute (provisions), esp to an army

to restrict the distribution or consumption of (a commodity) by (people)the government has rationed sugar; sugar is short, so I'll have to ration you

Word Origin for ration

C18: via French from Latin ratiō calculation; see reason

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rationing

"restriction to limited allotments," 1865, verbal noun from ration (v.). Specifically of restrictions during wartime from 1917, from conditions in England during World War I.

ration

1550, "reasoning," later, "relation of one number to another" (1660s), then "fixed allowance of food" (1702, often rations, from French ration in this sense), from Latin rationem (nominative ratio) "a reckoning, calculation, proportion" (see ratio). The military pronunciation (rhymes with fashion) took over from the preferred civilian pronunciation (rhymes with nation) during World War I.

ration

"put (someone) on a fixed allowance," 1859, from ration (n.); sense of "apportion in fixed amounts" is from 1870. Related: Rationed; rationing.

rationing in Culture

rationing

A regulated allocation of resources among possible users.

Note

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.