The Rice University Neologisms Database

to dole out stingily An adapted slang use in which the impoverished sense of “ration” – to put on a fixed allowance of provisions – is emphasized to mean inadequate or stingy. So it no longer has anything to do with the literal act of rationing, but is metaphorically connected with having only limited access to supply, especially with food; for example, if a restaurant portion is small, then the recipient was "rationed" by that establishment.