n.
- a fixed amount of a commodity officially allowed to each person during a time of shortage, as in wartime.
-
(rations)
an amount of food supplied on a regular basis to members of the armed forces during a war.
-
(rations)
food; provisions.
v.
- limit the supply of (a commodity) to fixed rations.
- limit the amount of a commodity available to (someone).
Etymology
C18: from Fr., from L. ratio(n-) ‘reckoning, ratio’.