A fork of Rural Dictionary
Describing a car or other form of transport that is running very low on fuel. Also an euphimism for very tired.
1. Its lucky we found this garage, look at the fuel guage, we were running on fumes. 2. The runner finished the marathon but later said to reporters that towards the end that he was 'running on fumes'.
When you have 1% left on your phone but still need to do stuff
Joe: Yesterday my phone had 1% left while I was doing my project. Luckily it lasted long enough Lance: Your phone was running on fumes
Verb phrase. At the end of one's resources or personal energy. This comes from the condition of a car when it's gas gauge reads "E" or "Empty." In a car on empty, you don't know how much fuel you have left, so you assume your fuel is so low that it has evaporated into fumes.
After that Marathon, I'm so exhausted that I'm running on fumes. My car's fuel gauge is reading "E"; I'm running on fumes, so I might not make it to the next gas station.