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Ration

Military
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A fixed amount of food or supplies issued for a period. In poetry, it can signify scarcity, discipline, endurance, and the measured distribution of life’s necessities.

Detailed Definition
Military rations are portions assigned to personnel so that food and other essential supplies can be conserved and distributed predictably. A ration carries the arithmetic of survival: enough to continue, rarely enough to forget deprivation. Poets may use the word for bread, water, tenderness, sleep, or hope reduced to controlled portions. Its plain practicality can make hunger vivid, while the act of sharing or withholding a ration reveals hierarchy, solidarity, and the moral choices produced by scarcity.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Each soldier received a ration of bread and water,” showing ration as a measured military portion; “The camp grew quiet when the last ration was shared,” using the noun in a poetic scene; “They rationed the candles through the siege,” demonstrating ration as a verb meaning to limit supplies; “The poet rations bright images, leaving only one gold star per stanza,” using the military term metaphorically; “A ration of sleep sustained the exhausted regiment,” showing how the word can describe a restricted share of something
Additional Notes
A ration is a measured allotment, usually of food, water, or fuel, issued according to need or rank. In poetry, the word can emphasize deprivation, routine, restraint, or the body reduced to a calculation. “Rationed” may also describe limited access to nonmaterial things such as sleep, hope, or affection. Related terms include allowance, provision, scarcity, and sustenance.
Also Known As
Food Allowance Military Ration
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