ration

[ rash-uhn, rey-shuhn ]

/ ˈræʃ ən, ˈreɪ ʃən /

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.

Nearby words

ratio scale, ratio test, ratiocinate, ratiocination, ratiometer, ration, rational, rational form, rational function, rational horizon, rational number

Origin of ration

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

SYNONYMS FOR ration

1, 2 portion, allotment.

1, 3 See food.

4 mete, dole, allot.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ration ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsun·ra·tioned, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

Another charge about keeping outcomes data is that it will lead to rationing.
Return of the Health Care Villains|Michael Kinsley|March 18, 2009|DAILY BEAST
She's done it simply because I told her to-night that rationing is definitely coming in.
The Title|Arnold Bennett
I meant to give you a regular blow-out, so far as the rationing order would allow us.
A Patriotic Schoolgirl|Angela Brazil
There being no system of rationing, only the well-to-do could buy the dearer necessities of ordinary life.
Eastern Nights - and Flights|Alan Bott
Such hampering restrictions as conscription to fight or work, or rationing, have been removed.
The Sensitive Man|Poul William Anderson
Rationing restrictions were eased and many industries were sensibly returned to private ownership.
Greener Than You Think|Ward Moore

British Dictionary definitions for rationing

ration

/ (ˈræʃən) /

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 (1 of 3)

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.

Word Origin and History for rationing (1 of 3)

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.

Word Origin and History for rationing (2 of 3)

ration

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

Culture definitions for rationing

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.

ration

noun

verb (used with object)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of ration

Examples from the Web for rationing

British Dictionary definitions for rationing

ration

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for ration

Word Origin and History for rationing (1 of 3)

rationing

Word Origin and History for rationing (1 of 3)

ration

Word Origin and History for rationing (2 of 3)

ration

Culture definitions for rationing

rationing

Note