Word.ws English Dictionary

runs short

runs short is the third-person singular simple present indicative of run short.

Meaning of run short

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To have used up or consumed the majority (of something), so that little remains.
    • How much ice cream is left? Are we running short?
  2. To be nearly used up or consumed.
    • Patience is running short.

Questions about runs short

What is runs short the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Runs short is the third-person singular simple present indicative of run short.

Words near runs short in the dictionary

  1. runs rampant
  2. runs rings around
  3. runs riot
  4. runs roughshod over
  5. runs scared
  6. runs short
  7. runs someone off their feet
  8. runs someone ragged
  9. runs someone's file
  10. runs something up the flagpole
  11. runs the clock down

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: runs short (page history and authors); run short (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “runs short.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/runs_short. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.