run out

verb

ran out; run out; running out; runs out

intransitive verb

1

a

: to come to an end : expire

time ran out

b

: to become exhausted or used up

the gasoline ran out

2

: to jut out

transitive verb

1

a

: to finish out (a course, a series, a contest, etc.) : complete

b

of a baseball batter : to run hard to first base after hitting (a batted ball)

ran out the grounder

2

a

: to fill out (a typeset line) with quads, leaders, or ornaments

b

: to set (a line of text, such as the first line of a paragraph) with a hanging indention

3

: to exhaust (oneself) in running

4

: to cause to leave by force or coercion : expel

Phrases

run out of

: to use up the available supply of

ran out of time

run out on

: desert

Examples of run out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Investigators suspected the two killings were related but ran out of leads and the cases went cold. —Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 13 May 2025

The program became so popular that the money ran out much faster than anticipated. —Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 May 2025

This could be the biggest threat to the world’s leading mobile ecosystem since its inception, and time is running out for Google to fix it. —Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025

What did Sox catcher Carlton Fisk say to Deion Sanders in a 1990 game after the New York Yankees star wouldn’t run out an infield pop-up? —Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Rhymes for run out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout

Kids Definition

run out

verb

1

: to come to an end : expire

time ran out before we could tie the game

2

: to become exhausted or used up

our supplies were running out