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

Summit’s ground game was able to run out the clock to secure the win. —Jordan Neal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 Oct. 2025

Roberts ran out of the dugout to greet him. —Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025

Don’t miss top brands like Apple, Shark, L’Oréal Paris, and more before the deals run out. —Nicol Natale, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025

When the battery does run out, users can recharge the pack in roughly four hours via USB-C, swap in a spare TD2 custom battery pack, or use two standard 21700 batteries. —New Atlas, 10 Oct. 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