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

The deputy pulled himself from the floor and returned fire as Williams ran out of the credit union’s doors. —Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Dec. 2025

Time was running out for Charmaine Gatlin. —Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 12 Dec. 2025

Nobody could have predicted it at the time, but the Week 1 loss now looms large with Kansas City running out of games. —Pete Sweeney, Kansas City Star, 11 Dec. 2025

Scrambling vendors ran out of beer. —Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman, 11 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