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 anniversary passports will only be available at the Washington Passport Agency for American citizens who apply for a new identification document until supplies run out, according to the State Department. —Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026

Now, the plantain chip definitely would have gotten soggy in either of those, but were there enough to-go diners that the Terra Reina team ran out of one container and started using another? —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2026

The clock runs out on those tariffs July 24. —Paul Wiseman, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026

Iran is quickly running out of oil storage, according to a new report from Kpler, an intelligence platform. —Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 28 Apr. 2026

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