to run out of steam
6
4.8
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
quedarse sin energía
- Sometimes it's the small things, the things we overlook that cause us to run out of steam.
- the revolution ran out of steam
- running out of steam anytime soon
- simply ran out of steam
Well, what if, you know, that runs out of steam?
- Well, what if, you know, that runs out of steam?
- They never seem to run out of steam.
- And so, yes, I mean, people, people do run out of steam as they get older.
- Because by the time the, the, the bloke had got to the end guy, he'd run out of steam and, and everyone was getting softer and softer.
- As long as a narcissistic person is being vindictive and angry, they do not run out of steam.
- It checks organized resistance for now, but the colossal effort burdens A regime that soon seems to be running out of steam.
- And then longer it goes on, it runs out of steam and then it just really is like OK or or that it's it's too long.
Examples
-
But I was running out of steam.
Academic text (1996) -
I'm telling ya, he's running out of steam.
-
And so, yes, I mean, people, people do run out of steam as they get older.
-
I got quite a few of those done and then ran out of steam as I as I got sick.
-
Yeah, we were running out of steam.
-
But with so little public leadership, the program ran out of steam after about the first 30 sales.
Academic text (1993) -
Yet over the summer, the idea ran out of steam.
Academic text (2007) -
You have to admit, things have run out of steam between us.
-
You'll be able to sense when the conversation runs out of steam.
Blog text (2) -
After a busy morning of meetings, I found myself running out of steam by lunchtime.
Synonyms
194
3.2
To make someone very tired
12
7.7
To reach a point where you cannot continue because you are very tired or stuck
10
2.1
To make a person very tired by using up their energy
8
7.5
To keep working with very little energy or money left
8
5.3
To gradually lose energy or interest and end weakly
7
7.5
To become completely tired and unable to continue
6
7.5
To fail suddenly after a good start
3
7.0
Very tired and having no energy or fuel left
To lose energy or interest slowly until it fades
Antonyms
How Energetic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The pattern 'run out of' is productive and clearly signals depletion, and combining it with 'steam' invites a metaphorical reading of 'steam' as energy or momentum (cf. 'full steam ahead'). Because the metaphoric shift from literal vapor to 'energy/enthusiasm' is conventional in English but not strictly literal, a B1 learner who knows the words can often infer the meaning from context but may still need prior exposure, so the item is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The idiom run out of steam comes from old steam engines. When an engine had no steam left it could not move, so to run out of steam came to mean 'to lose energy or motivation'.