RUN OUT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does run out mean? 

• RUN OUT (verb)
  The verb RUN OUT has 8 senses:

1. become used up; be exhausted

2. flow off gradually

3. leave suddenly and as if in a hurry

4. lose validity

5. flow, run or fall out and become lost

6. exhaust the supply of

7. prove insufficient

8. use up all one's strength and energy and stop working

  Familiarity information: RUN OUT used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUN OUT (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Become used up; be exhausted

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Our supplies finally ran out

Hypernyms (to "run out" is one way to...):

cease; end; finish; stop; terminate (have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical)

Verb group:

run out (exhaust the supply of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Flow off gradually

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

drain; run out

Context example:

The rain water drains into this big vat

Hypernyms (to "run out" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

The water run outs

Sense 3

Meaning:

Leave suddenly and as if in a hurry

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

beetle off; bolt; bolt out; run off; run out

Context example:

When she started to tell silly stories, I ran out

Hypernyms (to "run out" is one way to...):

go away; go forth; leave (go away from a place)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Lose validity

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

expire; run out

Context example:

My passports expired last month

Hypernyms (to "run out" is one way to...):

discontinue (come to or be at an end)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Flow, run or fall out and become lost

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

run out; spill

Context example:

The wine spilled onto the table

Hypernyms (to "run out" is one way to...):

course; feed; flow; run (move along, of liquids)

Verb group:

slop; spill; splatter (cause or allow (a liquid substance) to run or flow from a container)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "run out"):

brim over; overflow; overrun; run over; well over (flow or run over (a limit or brim))

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Exhaust the supply of

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

We ran out of time just as the discussion was getting interesting

Hypernyms (to "run out" is one way to...):

consume; deplete; eat; eat up; exhaust; run through; use up; wipe out (use up (resources or materials))

Verb group:

run out (become used up; be exhausted)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 7

Meaning:

Prove insufficient

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

fail; give out; run out

Context example:

The water supply for the town failed after a long drought

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 8

Meaning:

Use up all one's strength and energy and stop working

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

conk out; peter out; poop out; run down; run out

Context example:

At the end of the march, I pooped out

Hypernyms (to "run out" is one way to...):

fatigue; jade; pall; tire; weary (lose interest or become bored with something or somebody)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

I don't care for the pale people; I like them with lots of blood in them, and hers had all seemed to have run out.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I know what I shall do to-morrow, the first thing—run out a light anchor and kedge the schooner off the beach.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

My wife run out to embrace me, but I stooped lower than her knees, thinking she could otherwise never be able to reach my mouth.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

If you open your mouth when you get back to Dawson, I'll have you run out of town. Understand?

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He wanted to run out, but she held him by the arm, and gave him a handful of ducats.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

They then need to rely on stored sugars and starches to stay alive, and will die if these run out before a drought ends.

(What's killing trees during droughts?, National Science Foundation)

Most scientists agree that Type Ia supernovas occur when white dwarfs, the dense remnants of Sun-like stars that have run out of fuel, explode.

(Trigger for Milky Way’s Youngest Supernova Identified, NASA)

When they run out of nuclear fuel, there is no longer enough energy from radiation to hold the star's outer layers against its immense gravity.

(Elusive Middleweight Black Hole Found at Center of Giant Star Cluster, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

He saw Spitz run out his scarlet tongue in a way he had of laughing; and he saw François, swinging an axe, spring into the mess of dogs.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

"Lizzy! Georgy! (calling to his sisters) Joan is not here: tell mama she is run out into the rain—bad animal!"

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)