Word.ws English Dictionary

ran on empty

ran on empty is the simple past of run on empty.

Meaning of run on empty

Verb

run on empty (third-person singular simple present runs on empty, present participle running on empty, simple past ran on empty, past participle run on empty)

  1. (idiomatic) To be losing enthusiasm or willingness; to lack motivation.
    • Near-synonyms: run on fumes, run out of steam

Questions about ran on empty

What is ran on empty the simple past of?
Ran on empty is the simple past of run on empty.

Words near ran on empty in the dictionary

  1. ran off on
  2. ran off one's mouth
  3. ran off the tongue
  4. ran off with
  5. ran on
  6. ran on empty
  7. ran on fumes
  8. ran one on
  9. ran one's face
  10. ran one's mouth
  11. ran one's mouth off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ran on empty (page history and authors); run on empty (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “ran on empty.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ran_on_empty. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.