All 7 Uses

ration
in
Tunnel In the Sky
(Auto-generated)

Okay, besides your parka I would make it four kilos of rations, five of water, two kilos of sundries like pills and matches, all in a vest pack ...and a knife.†
Chpt 2 *
Rod put on his vest pack of rations and sundries, fastened his canteen under it.†
Chpt 3
Mostly water and rations.†
Chpt 3
This consisted in digging out a quarter-kilo brick of field ration, eleven hundred calories of yeast protein, fat, starch, and glucose, plus trace requirements.†
Chpt 3
But it was awkward; tonight he must stay as he was, even if it meant wasting a day's ration of water in sweat.†
Chpt 3
Gone were his precious water, his vest pack with rations and a dozen other invaluable articles— his antibiotics, his salt, his compass, his climbers, his matches, his hammock ....everything.†
Chpt 3
Dinner was wonderfully good, but he was astonished by the small portions; Terra must be under severe rationing.†
Chpt 16

rationing = restricting the amount of something each person can have -- such as food or gasoline when there is a shortage

Definitions:

(1) (ration)
a fixed share of something, especially scarce goods like food or fuel; or to limit and distribute something in fixed shares
(2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)