run out of gas
idiom
: to no longer have any gas in one's vehicle
Our car ran out of gas on the way here.
We ran out of gas just as the car reached the gas station.
—sometimes used figuratively to indicate getting tiredThe pitcher ran out of gas in the seventh inning.
Examples of run out of gas in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Nothing came any easier for USC from there, as the Trojans looked like a team that had run out of gas.
—
Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2023
All of Ukraine has a sense of humor -- think of the man who offered to tow the Russian tank which had run out of gas back to Russia.
—Leah Asmelash, CNN, 2 Mar. 2022
The franchise started to run out of gas in summer 2016, a season where many once-were-special franchises (Star Trek, Independence Day, TMNT, X-Men, Ghostbusters, etc.) crashed and burned.
—Scott Mendelson, Forbes, 28 Jan. 2022
With people running after her and some using pickup trucks to chase the 2-year-old, Bold and Bossy ran for miles, lost a couple of shoes and finally appeared to run out of gas on the highway after 30 minutes, Ewing said.
—NBC News, 21 Aug. 2021
See All Example Sentences for run out of gas
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2023
All of Ukraine has a sense of humor -- think of the man who offered to tow the Russian tank which had run out of gas back to Russia.
—Leah Asmelash, CNN, 2 Mar. 2022
The franchise started to run out of gas in summer 2016, a season where many once-were-special franchises (Star Trek, Independence Day, TMNT, X-Men, Ghostbusters, etc.) crashed and burned.
—Scott Mendelson, Forbes, 28 Jan. 2022
With people running after her and some using pickup trucks to chase the 2-year-old, Bold and Bossy ran for miles, lost a couple of shoes and finally appeared to run out of gas on the highway after 30 minutes, Ewing said.
—NBC News, 21 Aug. 2021
See All Example Sentences for run out of gas
Cite this Entry
“Run out of gas.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/run%20out%20of%20gas. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share