run short

Idioms

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

Social Security’s trust fund supporting seniors is expected to run short of money in a few short years, resulting in benefit cuts of 22.5% in 2033, according to the Trustees report released in June.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 17, 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

It had warned its creditors that it could run short of cash by the end of August if its turnaround proposal was not approved.

From BBC • Aug. 8, 2025

When I don’t move, he meows, letting me know that his sympathy has run short, I crack my door and let him out as I flip on the light.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023