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

Keep scrolling to check out more of our favorite Amazon deals on Coach purses before time runs out. —Isabel Garcia, PEOPLE, 5 Dec. 2025

For a headquarters, the charity lists an accounting office run out of a West Miami townhouse. —Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 5 Dec. 2025

The problem occurs when such a bot runs out of accurate evidence for its argument. —Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 4 Dec. 2025

And now, things appear to be getting more dire as Penn State is running out of legitimate top-tier names. —Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 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