run short

Idioms  

1. Use something up so that a supply runs out or becomes insufficient, as in We ran short of envelopes, or The organization is running short of money. [Mid-1700s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

run short

I know that Social Security is projected to run short of the funds needed to pay full benefits in a few years.

From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026

The shutdown has dragged on for months, and the department says it will soon run short of money External link needed to pay its roughly 50,000 Transportation Security Administration workers.

From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026

But a UAW official told members in a Facebook post Monday that the Kentucky plant producing the Super Duty pickups “may run short today, tonight, and possibly over the next few shifts.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025

Crawley set the tone, helping them race to 49 without loss by the end of the powerplay, before falling just one run short of a fifty.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2025

Most households bake their own, though you can get dried- up rolls and wizened doughnuts at Daily Bread, if you run short.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood