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

The money used to pay private attorneys appointed to represent defendants in Charlotte, North Carolina and across the U.S. federal courts has run out. —Julia Coin july 23, Charlotte Observer, 23 July 2025

The Midway store, which had stopped stocking handheld shopping baskets, frequently ran out of shopping carts in recent months, despite a major restocking in April, and blamed the shortage on cart theft. —Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 22 July 2025

Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the UN Security Council on Thursday that food was running out in Gaza. —Tim Lister, CNN Money, 21 July 2025

Executive producer and showrunner Rebecca Cutter risks running out of steam in the back half of the season, let alone in a second. —Judy Berman, Time, 21 July 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