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

The report had said that food systems are running out of fresh water and cities are sinking as aquifers beneath them dry up. —Juliann Ventura, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2024

There is a lot that election officials cannot control water main breaks, someplace runs out of ballots. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 4 Nov. 2024

All these complications make the current iteration of CAR-T suitable only for lupus patients with severe disease, who have run out of other options. —Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2024

Later, the Lions ran out the final 3:49 of the game when the Packers were desperately trying to get the ball back. —Rob Reischel, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

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

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