Meaning

3 senses
  1. (transitive)To supply with a ration; to limit (someone) to a specific allowance of something.

    We rationed ourselves to three sips of water a day until we were rescued.

  2. (transitive)To portion out (especially during a shortage of supply); to limit access to.

    By the third day on the raft, we had to ration our water.

    rationieren

    ограни́чиватьograníčivatʹ, квоти́роватьkvotírovatʹ

  3. (transitive)To restrict (an activity etc.)

    I've rationed myself to one cup of coffee a day.

    Our present health care system is rationed only to those who can afford it because of unnecessary high cost, lack of insurance coverage by 47 million people, and exorbitant prescription prices.

More definitions
  • distribute in rations, as in the army
  • restrict the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity, as during war

Examples

13 sentences
  1. The government rationed meat during the war.

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  2. We need to ration water and food.

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  3. We'll have to ration the fresh water.

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  4. They bargained additional rations of bread and milk.

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  5. He was caught stealing rations at the kitchen.

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Translations

4 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
to portion out, especially during a shortage of supply:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to portion out, especially during a shortage of supply:

Origin

From French ration. Doublet of reason and ratio.

From French ration. Doublet of reason and ratio.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

rations, rationing, rationed, rationed
Base formration · to ration
3rd person singularrations
Present participlerationing
Past simplerationed
Past participlerationed

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyration
he, she, itrations

Past simpleLesson

all personsrationed

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave rationed
he, she, ithas rationed

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill ration

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

4 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
ration — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto