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run out of

A2 neutral inseparable transitive
In simple words

When you have used all of something and there is none left.

Literal meaning: To run until you exit a supply of something — the image is of moving forward until there is nothing left to move through.

Meanings

1 A2 neutral

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)
Grammar: inseparable
2 B1 idiomatic neutral

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)
Grammar: inseparable
3 B1 idiomatic informal

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)
Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

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.

Commonly used with

time money food patience ideas fuel

Forms

Base
run out of
I/you/we/they
3rd person
runs out of
he/she/it
Past simple
ran out of
yesterday
Past participle
run out of
have + pp
-ing form
running out of
continuous

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