【Ration】 ,  【allowance】 ,  【dole】 ,  【pittance】  denote the amount of food, supplies, or money allotted to an individual.

【Ration】 implies apportionment and, often, equal sharing. Specifically it is applied in military and naval use to the daily supply of provisions given each man, and in stockbreeding to the daily or periodical supply of food for each animal. In these uses it generally implies dietary variety and restricted amounts of each food.

When used of a particular food or commodity (as meat or gasoline) it implies a shortage in the supply and a limitation on the amount allowed each person.

【Allowance】 , though often interchangeable with  【ration】 , is wider in its range of application. Both imply restriction in amount, but  【allowance】 stresses granting rather than sharing and is applicable to money and many other things besides food or commodities.

【Dole】 tends to imply a grudging division and needy or sometimes grasping recipients. In current, chiefly British, use  【dole】  is applied to a payment to unemployed workers, whether in the form of relief or insurance, by the national government.

【Pittance】 is likely to suggest, or even stress, scantiness or meagerness. It is applicable to a 【ration】 , an 【allowance】 , a 【dole】 , or a wage, the context usually making the reference clear.