A cutter's loaded with meagre rations (10)
I believe the answer is:
allowances
'rations' is the definition.
(allowance is a kind of ration)
'a cutter's loaded with meagre' is the wordplay.
'cutter's' becomes 'lances' (lance is a kind of cutter).
'loaded with' indicates putting letters inside.
'meagre' becomes 'low' (meagre can mean low or inadequate).
'lances' enclosing 'low' is 'llowances'.
'a'+'llowances'='ALLOWANCES'
(Other definitions for allowances that I've seen before include "excuses" , "rations" .)