To exhaust or completely deplete a supply of something.
When you have used all of something and there is none left.
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
To have no more of a physical supply or material resource because it has all been used or consumed.
"We ran out of milk this morning, so I had to drink my coffee black."
We're running out of time.
— Common idiom widely attributed in political and climate speeches; notably used by Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
To exhaust an abstract resource such as time, patience, ideas, or luck.
"The negotiators ran out of patience and ended the talks early."
I was running out of time and I knew it.
— Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom (1994)
To reach a point where no more options, choices, or possibilities remain.
"The screenwriters ran out of ideas after the third sequel."
We've run out of road on this.
— Common political expression; used by UK politicians during Brexit negotiations, widely reported in The Guardian and BBC News (2019)
To run until you exit a supply of something — the image is of moving forward until there is nothing left to move through.
When you have used all of something and there is none left.
Always followed by a noun or noun phrase. Cannot be separated ('run money out of' is ungrammatical). Used across all registers and regions without significant variation. Can also describe abstract resources like time, ideas, or patience.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Listen to native speakers using "run out of" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
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