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]

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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

West Indies have shot straight into number two on the lowest scores list, and just one run short of the lowest score mustered by New Zealand against England in Auckland in 1955.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025

Chagrin reproducing and proliferating, as if they would ever run short.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng