Word.ws English Dictionary

running on fumes

running on fumes is the present participle and gerund of run on fumes.

Meaning of run on fumes

Verb

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

  1. To operate a vehicle that is low on fuel.
    • We were running on fumes by the time we arrived, but we made it to the next gas station.
  2. (broadly, figuratively) To operate with few resources, or be physically or emotionally overworked.
    • Near-synonyms: run on empty, run out of steam

Questions about running on fumes

What is running on fumes the present participle and gerund of?
Running on fumes is the present participle and gerund of run on fumes.

Words near running on fumes in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: running on fumes (page history and authors); run on fumes (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: “running on fumes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/running_on_fumes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.