runout

[ ruhn-out ]

noun
  1. Machinery.

    • the gradual termination of a groove on the body of an object not ending there, as the upper termination of a flute in a twist drill.

    • Also called back clearance. a space in a depressed area of an object into which a machine tool or grinding wheel may safely enter at the end of a pass or operation.

  2. the merging of a curved surface into another surface.

  1. an act or instance of running away so as to evade, abandon, or avoid something.

  2. a person who runs away so as to avoid payment or duty.

  3. an act or instance of expiring or becoming depleted: the runout of a union contract; a runout in office supplies.

  4. uneven wear on the outer edges of a tire or on the rim of a wheel.

Origin of runout

1
First recorded in 1925–30; noun use of verb phrase run out

Other definitions for run-out (2 of 2)

run-out
[ ruhn-out ]

nounManège.
  1. the act of evading a jump or jumping outside of the limiting markers.

Origin of run-out

2
First recorded in 1865–70; noun use of verb phrase run out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use runout in a sentence

  • But if what I told him were true, he was still at a loss how a kingdom could run out of its estate like a private person.

    Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan Swift
  • Nets were run out in a jiffy, but I fear the big fish had already given them the slip.

  • You must be careful or your battery'll run out of electricity; that would mean your being hung up for two days.

    The Everlasting Arms | Joseph Hocking
  • They run out in all weathers to succour ships in distress, and much good service do they accomplish, but their powers are limited.

  • I didn't make a fool of myself like so many others, and run out in the street before I was dressed; my hair was up on pins.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton

British Dictionary definitions for run out

run out

verb(adverb)
  1. (intr often foll by of) to exhaust (a supply of something) or (of a supply) to become exhausted

  2. (intr) to expire; become no longer valid: my passport has run out

  1. run out on informal to desert or abandon

  2. (tr) cricket to dismiss (a running batsman) by breaking the wicket with the ball, or with the ball in the hand, while he is out of his ground

nounrun-out
  1. cricket dismissal of a batsman by running him out

  2. mechanical engineering an imperfection of a rotating component so that not all parts revolve about their intended axes relative to each other

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with runout

runout

Become used up or exhausted, as in Our supplies have run out. [Late 1600s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.