Run out
be finished
Meaning
When you're running out of something or something is running out, you've used almost all of it. If you have run out, it's finished and you need to get some more.
Why out?
Out is used in some phrasal verbs when something is finished. You coud say, for example, that the shows is sold out so there are no tickets left.
Check out more phrasal verbs with the same preposition logic in Logic > out.
Collocations
So, what words go together with run out?
run out
sugar
coffee
milk
food
battery
time
luck
ideas
fuel
supplies
options
patience
money
petrol
Examples
subject verb object
| We've run out of coffee. Would you like tea instead? |
| I ran out of milk, so I went to the shop to buy some more. |
| I ran out of sugar so I used some honey. |
| My phone keeps running out of battery really quickly. |
| They ran out of petrol in the middle of nowhere. |
| There is now a risk that the project will run out of money. |
| The printer has run out of paper. |
| We ran out of time and had to stop. |
| My luck eventually ran out. |
| We seem to be running out of ideas. |
| The company ran out of cash. |
| We got to the point where we ran out of options. |
| The unions are running out of patience with the government. |
| The economic recovery seems to have run out of steam. |
| The concern is that the supplies will run out pretty quickly. |
Grammar
inseparable
Don't separate this phrasal verb in this context.
Something or somebody runs out (of something).
| Authorities say the plane ran out of fuel before it crashed. |
| After their money ran out, things quickly changed for the worse. |