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Glite Dictionary
to run short

to run short

14 3.7
To have very little of something left
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : quedarse sin
  • Things seemed to be working out well, but Adah's money was running short, and the children needed new clothes.
  • ran short of food

Food runs short at Ella Riche.

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Examples

  • Yeah, we're really running short on time.

  • We're running short on staff today, there's a backlog.

    Hours (2013)

  • Because when we run short of water, what are you going to do?

  • If you really were running short of food, you would know exactly what to do.

    Evan Carmichael

  • Well, we're running short of fuel.

    The African Queen (1952)

  • But, we ran short of supplies.

    Green Fire (1954)

  • I'll send a quarterly check, but if anything should come up and you run short, I want you to let me know.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The Anasazi soon ran short of the food that is necessary to feed a large population.

    Academic text (1996)

  • It's unusual, but not unheard of, for a hotel restaurant to run short on food during a dinner rush.

    Blog text (22)

  • When camping, we should prepare for the possibility that we might run short of firewood before morning.

Synonyms

to run out
vsto run short
937 1.9

Use all of something so none is left

means almost exhausted but does not require total depletion
to run out of
vsto run short
646 1.9

Have no more of something because you used it all

refers to being nearly out rather than already having nothing left
to use up
vsto run short
69 2.7

To finish all of something so nothing is left

means having very little left rather than consuming everything completely
to run low
vsto run short
31 2.5

To have only a small amount left

is about being almost exhausted but not necessarily completely finished
to run through
vsto run short
16 4.4

Use up money or supplies quickly and wastefully

describes having little left without implying rapid or wasteful use
to run down
vsto run short
15 3.2

To use up batteries, money or supplies until little remains

focuses more on having little left rather than the draining process itself
to run dry
vsto run short
10 4.2

To use up something so none is left, for example ideas

indicates near depletion rather than the state of being empty

Antonyms

to replenish
43 4.3

Fill something again after it has been used up

to stock up
39 2.9

Buy a large supply of something to use later

How Much Left

to run short
14 3.7
to run out
937 1.9

Surface Forms

run short infinitive
ran short past
run short past participle
running short present participle
runs short third person singular

Morphology

run + short

The adjective 'short' transparently means 'insufficient', and 'run' here carries a somewhat metaphorical sense of 'become' or 'become depleted', so the overall meaning is partly derivable from the parts. However, this sense of 'run' and the specific collocational pattern 'run short (on)' is not fully predictable without exposure, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents may only partly infer the exact meaning.

Etymology

Run short comes from imagining something that runs like a flow and then becomes short, like a tap that almost stops. So when supplies run short, it means 'to have little of something left'.