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run out of

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Idioms and Phrases

Exhaust a supply or quantity of, as in We're about to run out of coffee and sugar . This expression, dating from about 1700, can be used both literally and figuratively. Thus run out of gas may mean one no longer has any fuel, but it has also acquired the figurative sense of exhausting a supply of energy, enthusiasm, or support, and hence causing some activity to come to a halt. For example, After running ten laps I ran out of gas and had to rest to catch my breath , or The economic recovery seems to have run out of gas . On the other hand, run out of steam , originally alluding to a steam engine, today is used only figuratively to indicate a depletion of energy of any kind.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Part of the reason the state expects to run out of the sequence so quickly is that California’s rate of issuing new plate numbers is increasing more rapidly than originally anticipated, the DMV told the Bee.

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"These kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days."

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When officers arrived, a man fitting the description of a person involved in the theft tried to run out of the business.

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The number, also in a first-year report, refers to ULA’s initial housing outlay of $55 million to complete seven ongoing city-managed projects that either had run out of money or were faltering without enough financing to get started.

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"Superlatives, you run out of them."

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Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

run-out run out on

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