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

see also run out of, run out on

Examples of run out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the video, Ella is seen arriving at their house with bags in hand, and suddenly, Crew runs out of the house with his arms open. —Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 26 Dec. 2025

In this Arlington neighborhood, the Interlochen Christmas tradition has lived on for 50 years, but some neighbors have run out of holiday cheer. —Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Dec. 2025

Giddon said the strongest sellers included Eleventy and Peter Millar, a brand that ran out of stock early, and an indicator of the strength of the quarter-zip sweater trend. —David Moin, Footwear News, 26 Dec. 2025

Their combined efforts weren’t enough as the Knicks ran out winners 126-124. —Lars Brandle, Billboard, 26 Dec. 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