run out

ran out; run out; running out; runs out

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

Examples of run out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The same is true of the asset-management and insurance industries: without them, the fossil-fuel companies would almost literally run out of gas, but BlackRock and Chubb could survive without their business. — Bill Mckibben, The New Yorker, "Money Is the Oxygen on Which the Fire of Global Warming Burns," 17 Sep. 2019 Zink eliminates the annoying need for (and running out of) ink cartridges in your printer. — Wired, "The Best Zero Ink Instant Cameras and Printers," 14 Sep. 2019 Acevedo said the chaotic evening of violence began about 9:56 p.m. Thursday with the carjacking, but the vehicle soon ran out of gas and the suspects fled. — Edmund Demarche | Fox News, Fox News, "Houston police officer near Democrat debate shot, priest assaulted in violent crime spree," 13 Sep. 2019 America is running out of the trendy hard seltzer due to its massive spike in popularity. — Danielle Garrand, CBS News, "There is a nationwide shortage of White Claw hard seltzer," 7 Sep. 2019 Arcturus is running out of hydrogen fuel in its core. — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, "Sky Watch: The summer hunter begins his long goodbye," 25 Aug. 2019 The action is necessary, Harada says, because the government is running out of storage. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Would Japan Dump Radioactive Water Into the Pacific Ocean?," 12 Sep. 2019 The suggestion comes after Popeyes ran out of its new chicken sandwich last month. — Doreen Christensen, sun-sentinel.com, "Want a Popeyes chicken sandwich? Bring your own buns," 12 Sep. 2019 But time is quickly running out for a deal before the election. — Washington Post, "Trump’s US-Taliban move pushes Afghans toward fragile vote," 11 Sep. 2019

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.

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Learn More about run out

Dictionary Entries near run out

run one's own life

run-on sentence

run on the bank

run out of patience

Statistics for run out

Last Updated

1 Nov 2019

Time Traveler for run out

The first known use of run out was in the 14th century

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WORD OF THE DAY

bruit

to spread as a report or rumor

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