rations

nounB2Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,194 of 15,258neutral

Rations are fixed portions handed out when supplies are short. On short rations, army rations, iron rations.

British rationing in the Second World War ran until 1954, longer than the war itself, and the diet it produced was by some measures healthier than what came before. Army rations are a day's food in one packet, designed to be eaten cold if it must be.

Definitions of rations

1nounrationsFixed portions handed out when supplies are short.B2
“During the war, families had to live on small rations of butter, sugar and meat.”

rations is a portion.

Where it comes from

Proto-Indo-European
*h₂er-
French
ration
English
ration
English, today
rations

ration comes from French ration. a doublet of reason and ratio.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Emergency & Rescue, Military & Defence

Practise this word

rations in the wild

MREs have also been distributed to civilians alongside humanitarian daily rations during natural disasters and wars.
Meal, Ready-to-Eat
The first rations were field-tested in 1940, and wide-scale adoption followed soon after.
C-ration
Field rations are primarily used by military forces, though they are also sometimes distributed to civilians as part of humanitarian aid and emergency management.
Field ration
Furthermore, field rations may come individually packaged per meal, or contain items intended to be consumed in multiple meals throughout the day.
Field ration
Military chocolate has been a part of standard United States military rations since the original D-ration bar of 1937.
Military chocolate (United States)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the ration family

rations ration rationing

rations — used about once every 1,790 pages · #6,194 · point at the bar for the others

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