run out of

Idioms  

1. 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

It’s also apparent toward the end — when “Boosters” seems to run out of either money or time — that the camera framing gets uncomfortably tight.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

The government says it has run out of diesel and fuel oil needed to power the generators that supplement the electricity production of its dilapidated power plants.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

Plus you did not expect to break even by the time you and your Marathon Man run out of battery, so, again, why wait?

From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026

"I don't think we're going to run out of fuel," he told reporters in April.

From BBC • May 3, 2026

All three women knew, with sinking hearts, that they were going to run out of fuel in the middle of the Siberian wilderness.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Related Words

• absorb
• deplete
• devour
• dominate
• drain
• eat up
• employ
• exhaust
• expend
• obsess
• preoccupy
• spend
• waste