"run on empty" meaning in All languages combined

See run on empty on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: En-au-run on empty.ogg Forms: runs on empty [present, singular, third-person], running on empty [participle, present], ran on empty [past], run on empty [participle, past]
Etymology: An allusion to a vehicle operating with the fuel gauge pointing to empty or near empty, likely to stop running in the very near future. Head templates: {{en-verb|run<,,ran,run> on empty}} 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. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-run_on_empty-en-verb-afg6fAYk Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to a vehicle operating with the fuel gauge pointing to empty or near empty, likely to stop running in the very near future.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "runs on empty",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "running on empty",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ran on empty",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "run on empty",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "run<,,ran,run> on empty"
      },
      "expansion": "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)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonyms: run on fumes, run out of steam"
        },
        {
          "text": "He has been running on empty for a while. It's likely the project will be canceled.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 November 25, Katherine J. Wu, “Covid Combat Fatigue: ‘I Would Come Home With Tears in My Eyes’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "Doctors and nurses on the front lines are running on empty, under increasing duress as the pandemic surges and hospitals are overrun with patients.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be losing enthusiasm or willingness; to lack motivation."
      ],
      "id": "en-run_on_empty-en-verb-afg6fAYk",
      "links": [
        [
          "enthusiasm",
          "enthusiasm"
        ],
        [
          "motivation",
          "motivation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be losing enthusiasm or willingness; to lack motivation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-run on empty.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3e/En-au-run_on_empty.ogg/En-au-run_on_empty.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/En-au-run_on_empty.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "run on empty"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to a vehicle operating with the fuel gauge pointing to empty or near empty, likely to stop running in the very near future.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "runs on empty",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "running on empty",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "ran on empty",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "run on empty",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "run<,,ran,run> on empty"
      },
      "expansion": "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)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonyms: run on fumes, run out of steam"
        },
        {
          "text": "He has been running on empty for a while. It's likely the project will be canceled.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 November 25, Katherine J. Wu, “Covid Combat Fatigue: ‘I Would Come Home With Tears in My Eyes’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:",
          "text": "Doctors and nurses on the front lines are running on empty, under increasing duress as the pandemic surges and hospitals are overrun with patients.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be losing enthusiasm or willingness; to lack motivation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "enthusiasm",
          "enthusiasm"
        ],
        [
          "motivation",
          "motivation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be losing enthusiasm or willingness; to lack motivation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-run on empty.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3e/En-au-run_on_empty.ogg/En-au-run_on_empty.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/En-au-run_on_empty.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "run on empty"
}

Download raw JSONL data for run on empty meaning in All languages combined (2.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (b81b832 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.