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 Sixers were left with little depth and ran out of gas in the second half of multiple games in the series, and the way in which the season ended played a part in Morey’s dismissal. —Tony Jones, New York Times, 13 May 2026

Nvidia’s rally will not run out of steam anytime soon, according to Wells Fargo. —Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 12 May 2026

While residents waited for their share, another distribution site was up and running in Auburn Hills, where people in neighboring communities are worried the water will run out. —Julia Avant, CBS News, 12 May 2026

The original plan was to use 350 loaves of bread, but the team ran out of the carbs so quickly that 150 more were needed. —Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 12 May 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