How to Use ration in a Sentence

ration

1 of 2 noun
  • The horse was fed its ration of oats.
  • The soldiers were given their rations for the day.
  • Most Gazans live in refugee camps and rely on U.N. rations.
    Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2023
  • The Union regiment had not moved in three days, and the men had only three days of rations left.
    Robert Pushkar, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Sep. 2023
  • The migrants were offered three meals a day, but the rations were meagre.
    Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2023
  • Using the lunar module as a lifeboat, the crew stretched the rations that remained.
    John Wenz, Popular Mechanics, 7 July 2023
  • But in a split second, a scuffle broke out and a few people made off with all the rations.
    Carlos Mureithi, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 June 2023
  • But the bride was allowed 100 extra ration coupons for her trousseau.
    Danica Kirka, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Sep. 2022
  • Others were brusque, stingier with the rations — sometimes days with just a piece of bread.
    Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023
  • When the men received a ration of whiskey, Comstock refused to drink the spirit.
    Ellen Wexler, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 June 2023
  • The state still is trying to ration tests even though demand has dropped in recent days.
    Erin Alberty, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Jan. 2022
  • To get the material for her satin dress, Elizbaeth used ration coupons.
    Diana Pearl, Peoplemag, 8 Sep. 2022
  • In Wilson’s honor, the hobbyist opens and heats up a beef and rice ration from 1964.
    Rayna Rossitto, Vulture, 13 June 2023
  • The country was not in any acute danger of needing to ration supplies.
    Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2022
  • The cuts reduced the value of rations to about 27 cents per day, according to the UN human rights agency.
    Helen Regan, CNN, 7 July 2023
  • Kentucky ranks 331st in free throw rate (a measure of a team’s ration of free throw attempts to field goal attempts).
    Reina Kempt, The Courier-Journal, 27 Nov. 2021
  • Some members of her family who could find rapid tests tested just once because of the need to ration tests.
    Kaiser Health News, oregonlive, 17 Jan. 2022
  • The army mobilized search and rescue teams, and the king ordered water, food rations and shelters to be sent to those who lost homes.
    Sam Metz and Mosa'ab Elshamy, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Sep. 2023
  • There are food-ration books and recipe books, some published by the government, to help people cook with those rations.
    Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 22 Apr. 2022
  • Hit by high prices and supply disruptions, Beasley said the UN has been forced to ration food supplies to millions of people around the world.
    Matt Egan, CNN, 13 May 2022
  • The Rohingya are banned from working and rely on food rations, which have been slashed due to a drop in global donations.
    Kristen Gelineau, BostonGlobe.com, 6 June 2023
  • The high cost has forced many people with diabetes to ration or skip drug doses, which help the body manage blood sugar.
    Melissa Alonso, CNN, 18 Mar. 2023
  • In the early years of the camp, refugees had to stand in long lines to receive food rations, and for decades their cramped homes lacked electricity or running water.
    Maha Nassar, The Conversation, 5 July 2023
  • The protocols allow the hospitals to ration care and resources that are being stretched thin.
    Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, 3 Oct. 2021
  • That cap will not extend to younger Americans who are more likely to ration insulin.
    Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, 17 Oct. 2022
  • Why Trust Us? Survival is more than just stockpiling food and buying rations.
    Kevin Cortez, Popular Mechanics, 5 Apr. 2023
  • The remaining home cooks will be asked to prepare a gourmet meal using three components from Army rations.
    Kturnqui, oregonlive, 23 Aug. 2023
  • The authorities are also providing dry ration kits and cooked food packets to the needy.
    Quartz, 12 Jan. 2023
  • Some hospitals have reached the point of not accepting new patients and are preparing to ration care.
    Meg Oliver, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2021
  • High insulin costs force many people to ration doses, which can be dangerous for their health.
    Elizabeth Napolitano, CBS News, 14 Mar. 2023
Advertisement

ration

2 of 2 verb
  • During the war, the government rationed gasoline.
  • Bread rationing marked the depths of sacrifices on the home front.
    Kerry J. Byrne Fox News, Fox News, 18 Jan. 2024
  • Growing restless as the weeks passed, men brandished knives over the ham when the cook tried to ration it.
    Sarah Gilman, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Oct. 2020
  • On top of that, tens of millions of Americans ration their care.
    Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2022
  • Food was so scarce that it was rationed and could be purchased only with stamps.
    Dawn Mitchell, Indianapolis Star, 15 May 2020
  • My mom, dad and aunt were all smokers and of course cigarettes were rationed.
    Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2020
  • The alarming increase has meant the hospital must ration its care.
    NBC News, 3 Aug. 2021
  • Though all of the state’s hospitals can now ration health care resources as needed, some might not need to take that step.
    Rebecca Boone, Anchorage Daily News, 16 Sep. 2021
  • Grocery stores move to ration key items as the coronavirus surges, but experts are bullish on the supply chain.
    Washington Post, 19 Nov. 2020
  • The plans are effectively rationing health care, these providers said.
    Gretchen Morgenson, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2023
  • Nearly one in three of the sterile syringe programs that offered naloxone ran out of the drug or had to ration it over the past three months.
    Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY, 31 Aug. 2020
  • In recent weeks, Ukraine has had to ration its 155-mm caliber artillery shells due to shortages.
    Justin Ling, WIRED, 4 Jan. 2024
  • But in the meantime, SpaceX has been forced to essentially ration out the high-speed resources to paying subscribers.
    PCMAG, 5 Dec. 2022
  • Demand for eggs is so high that some stores have resorted to rationing customers to two dozen per shopping trip.
    NBC News, 15 May 2020
  • As workers begin to ration out the soup in various bowls, some children clamored at the gates amid shouts and childish cheers.
    NBC News, 20 Jan. 2024
  • The announcement comes as the federal government has moved to ration the treatment amid the spread of new variants.
    Fox News, 28 Sep. 2021
  • Nurses and doctors are reusing masks, avoiding patients and rationing gear.
    J. David McSwane, ProPublica, 1 May 2020
  • The family slept in one room and started rationing water, fearing their tank with reserves would soon run out.
    Heba Farouk Mahfouz, Washington Post, 14 May 2023
  • Some are forced to ration the auto-injectors or go without them.
    Tonya Bauer, NBC News, 7 Jan. 2023
  • In Mexico City, the capital, there was a shortage of ice and some convenience stores rationed ice sales.
    Cesar Rodriguez Elda Cantú, New York Times, 6 July 2023
  • So they'd be shocked to see how deeply rationing cut into the access to basic food and household necessities.
    Kerry J. Byrne Fox News, Fox News, 18 Jan. 2024
  • Divvying up the vaccine isn’t the first time hospitals have been forced to ration critical care and supplies in the pandemic.
    Melanie Evans, WSJ, 14 Dec. 2020
  • The family is rationing his pills this summer so that Madison, who recently turned 12, will have them during the school year.
    Christina Caron, New York Times, 15 Aug. 2023
  • The Fed was forced to ration the supplies of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters based on banks’ previous orders.
    The Economist, 21 Nov. 2020
  • The citizens had to ration their food, but the royal celebration was the one exception.
    Charna Flam, Variety, 26 June 2023
  • According to a news release from the task force, while the appeal is pending, only state funds can be used, meaning that work on the lakes and dams is rationed, starting now.
    Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, 5 Mar. 2024
  • The White House may have to ration the next generation of vaccines, Politico reports.
    New York Times, 13 May 2022
  • If the cost of the drug becomes untenable, some people try to ration their insulin — a choice that can lead to hospitalization or death.
    Reynolds Lewis, NBC News, 30 Dec. 2022
  • If hospitals begin to run out of beds and staff to care for patients, they could be forced to ration medical care and open field hospitals.
    Marina Starleaf Riker, ExpressNews.com, 23 Dec. 2020
  • Then, his next business idea: A run-in with a British warship inspired him, in 1979, to resurrect the particular type of rum that the Royal Navy used to ration to their sailors.
    Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 29 July 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ration.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: