run short

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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]

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON OPPOSITES OF RED BEFORE YOU TURN SCARLET

We have a challenge that will make you blush: do you know the many words and ways to describe the opposite of red?

Question 1 of 7

Which of the following colors is used to symbolize AIR?

white

green

red

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Words nearby run short

runover, runproof, run rings around, run riot, run scared, run short, run someone in, run someone off his or her feet, runt, run the gamut, run the gauntlet

How to use run short in a sentence

As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Everybody is trapped in an elevator together and tempers run a little hot.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS|Marlow Stern|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Using standard methods, the cost of printing DNA could run upwards of a billion dollars or more, depending on the strand.
Design Your Own Dinosaur: The Era of Custom DNA|Justin Jones|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Should lightning strike and Hillary Clinton forgoes a presidential run, Democrats have a nominee in waiting.
Sen. Warren’s Main Street Crusade to Pressure Clinton|Eleanor Clift|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The decision not to run the cartoons is motivated by nothing more than fear: either fear of offending or fear of retaliation.
Why We Stand With Charlie Hebdo—And You Should Too|John Avlon|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Do not the widow's tears run down the cheek, and her cry against him that causeth them to fall?
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
A few, very few, little dots had run back over that green patch—the others had passed down into the world of darkness.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
Sometimes the stems are quite bare; on other occasions they are partly branched; in any case the branches are short.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
Many of their cannon balls that fell far short of us, were collected and returned to them with powerful effect.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
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