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

Schwarber's contract ran out at the end of the season, and he's projected to land a massive deal in free agency. —Zach Pressnell, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will run out of money on Saturday, ratcheting up pressure on both parties to get a deal done to end the government shutdown. —Ross O'Keefe, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, aids roughly 42 million people and was set to run out of funds on Saturday without intervention. —Thania Garcia, Variety, 31 Oct. 2025

While sources declined to say whether Maduro himself is a target, one of them said his time is running out. —Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 31 Oct. 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