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 quality of his erections, their persistence, changed when the cocaine ran out and the only thing left to him was zoll. —Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025

While Trump has expressed confidence in the future of the program, projections state that the program's trust fund will run out in less than a decade. —Tierra Cunningham, ABC News, 27 Aug. 2025

At some point, however, that stock will run out, and the cost of tariffs will likely be passed on to the consumer, Mr. Grauer suggested. —Keith Collins, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025

Save 35% on your first autoship order of dog food at PetSmart Never run out of their favorite food, snacks or toys with autoship available now at PetSmart. 7. —Trisha Easto, USA Today, 27 Aug. 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