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

Jason Melara ran out of the hospital and jogged through traffic on Culver Boulevard with two men, whom police later identified as Daymonee Johnson and Mahki Taylor. — Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026

The statute of limitations for the earlier song had run out, the court ruled. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 11 July 2026

The bus driver peeked her head through the front door of the bus to see the man assaulting the woman before running out again. — Charlotte Observer, 11 July 2026

Their office regularly runs out of paper and even drinking water. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 10 July 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