run out

verb

Definition of run out

intransitive verb

1a : 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

1a : 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

2a : 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

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

Time is running out for Seattle commuters to find new roads, before the Washington State Department of Transportation closes its 66-year-old Alaskan Way Viaduct forever the night of Jan. 11. — Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times, "What will the Highway 99 tunnel opening mean for bus routes, detours and tsunamis? We answer those questions and more," 12 Dec. 2018 But the Brexit options are running out — and so is time. — Jen Kirby, Vox, "EU to UK: take the Brexit deal or else," 30 Nov. 2018 Meanwhile, time is running out to invest in solutions. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Oil Companies Are Barely Spending Any Money on Renewable Energy," 12 Nov. 2018 How to book: Flights are running out of Boston, Chicago, New York City, Newark, Seattle, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. — Bridget Hallinan, Condé Nast Traveler, "Icelandair Flash Sale: U.S. to Europe from $309 Round-Trip," 18 Oct. 2018 But Facebook is also running out of time to execute its plan. — Kurt Wagner, Recode, "Facebook has a plan to protect the U.S. midterms. Is it enough?," 17 Aug. 2018 Although time is running out, Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto is finally on the radar in All-Star voting at catcher. — Craig Davis, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Marlins' J.T. Realmuto moves into top 5 in All-Star voting at catcher," 2 July 2018 As the game went into the third-overtime period, most of the photographers were running out of film. — azcentral, "Arizona Republic staff's best memories of 1992-93 Phoenix Suns," 16 June 2018 Stocks of green and gold t-shirts are running out at local stores, as dozens of people sell Santa Fe Strong t-shirts, with proceeds going to a memorial fund set up by the school district. — Dana Burke, Houston Chronicle, "Photos: How Houstonians are showing their support for Santa Fe," 29 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'run out.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.