short-commons

[ shawrt-kom-uhnz ]

noun

, (used with a singular verb)

1. a scanty allowance of food.

Example Sentences

The snow has laid an embargo on the usual slight supplies brought to market, and all who had made no provision for such a contingency are subsisting on very short-commons.

From Project Gutenberg

They have short-commons under the Commissary Department; but even with empty stomachs, they can beat the Yankees at the ordeal of dying.

From Project Gutenberg

The Emperor was half afraid that Germanicus had some designs upon the kingdom of Egypt, and as that land happened to be the granary of Rome, the jealous autocrat thought of the possibility of short-commons and a bread-riot in the Forum. 

From Project Gutenberg

He always brought a peculiar kind of yellow bread, and shared it with the children, who loved it, and took as much as they wanted without scruple, so that the poor old man must have had short-commons himself sometimes.

From Project Gutenberg

There was much movement going on in those early centuries of the Christian era, the main tendency being from north-east to south-west, from cold, damp and short-commons to warmth and plenty.

From Project Gutenberg