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How do you say when a source contains water, but it no longer has its water supplies? So if I pump out the remaining water it will be dry, but it is not dry now.

The same can happen for example by a mine, we can see that this one will be the last lode, and after that we have to close the mine, since we will be out of minerals.

Another example is money, we lost our job and we have some spare money which we know will run out soon. So we are out of money source, but not yet out of money.

Is there any special word, phrase to describe these conditions?

(I currently use dry and exhausted by the source, so I am looking for a better word than exhausted by that example, if that is possible.)

inf3rno
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    That water source is not replenished, it means that when the current reserve is out it'll be empty. Look up synonyms for that word if it doesn't suit you exactly. – P. O. Sep 02 '16 at 14:52
  • You can use running out for all those examples (as you have). What's wrong with that? – Andrew Leach Sep 02 '16 at 14:53
  • @AndrewLeach source.willRunOut() does not look pretty. That's my problem. – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 15:05
  • in this case you could use also the very fashionable " non-renewable source" ie. source.unrenewed or source.unrenewable – P. O. Sep 02 '16 at 15:11
  • @AndrewLeach The will run out does not work here. I need something that stays true even after the source gets dry, but source.willRunOut() should give false by a dry source, since it has already run out... So it should be something similar to turned off the taps. – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 15:13
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    If you need your answer to work as a function name, please be aware that requests to help name something are out of scope and may be removed. (more) – MetaEd Sep 02 '16 at 15:17
  • @P.O. Getting closer, probably source.isRenewing is better than source.willRunOut. – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 15:17
  • @MetaEd Ohh, sorry, I did not know. – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 15:18
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    I think it's possible to answer the question and provide a function name :-) – Andrew Leach Sep 02 '16 at 15:19
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    What I can't figure out is "Out of order". Since order is such a common thing to run out of, why don't businesses just lay in an extra supply? – Hot Licks Sep 02 '16 at 16:04
  • @HotLicks :D :D – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 16:22
  • source.isLimited, source.isRenewable(), source.isConsumed() ? – Chris Sunami Sep 02 '16 at 16:43

4 Answers4

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One phrase which is used of resources which are not renewable (such as oil) is that they are finite.

A non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a resource that does not renew itself at a sufficient rate for sustainable economic extraction in meaningful human time-frames. An example is carbon-based, organically-derived fuel.

Wikipedia (my emphasis)

Addressing comments: A finite resource is still a finite resource after it's completely run out. It just has a zero quantity, very finite! Thus source.finite() will be false if it's being refilled at a sufficient rate, or true if it isn't.

Community
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Andrew Leach
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  • Thanks, it is a general solution. I ended up with source.isRunning() by the source example, but this is good as well. :-) – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 15:20
  • I don't understand why asking for function names is forbidden here, I always learned a lot from the answers to these questions. :-) – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 15:23
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    Naming questions are off-topic because you could name your function Susan and it would work just as well. Here, you specified your question in non-naming terms, which is fine (and only mentioned names in a comment). Here's an extreme example which wasn't rescued in time to prevent closure. – Andrew Leach Sep 02 '16 at 15:27
  • @inf3rno The purpose of the site is to create a library of generally useful questions with answers. Acceptable answers to naming questions are generally not useful to anybody but the person who asked. – MetaEd Sep 02 '16 at 15:28
  • @MetaEd I don't think that's true. People who answer these questions may learn a lot about English just by thinking on the problem. :-) – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 15:30
  • @inf3rno Since comments are for constructive suggestions on the post they are attached to, let's take any further discussion of this to [chat]. – MetaEd Sep 02 '16 at 15:33
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It's not used to my knowledge, but if a source is renewed in some way, it might be considered sustained or sustainable. My thinking would be that if it's not, then it might be called

unsustained

It's not something I've heard someone say exactly, but there is the much used sustainable and unsustainable. So I do think someone would know what you mean with regard to resources if you were to mention that this is a sustained or unsustained resource. I don't think it works too well with money, but with natural resources, maybe.

For completeness sustained is also common in law, but used differently.

John
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  • Thanks John! I isSustained is better than the isRunning I currently use. So after I block a source it can become blocked or unsustained. Unfortunately I cannot accept 2 answers and Andrew has a more general solution. – inf3rno Sep 02 '16 at 16:34
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The words "almost" and "nearly" might help in those situations. For example, "The pool is nearly empty," and, "The oil reserves are almost gone."

delete me
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A synonym of "exhausted" specific to a non-renewable resource is tapped out.

out of money or another resources [sic], such as energy
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/tapped-out

broke, spent, exhausted
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tapped%20out

The derivation is from "tap" meaning to draw a resource out of a supply, by analogy to the tap on a keg of liquid (or the "tap" leading into a water supply). When you've gotten everything you can get out of it, it's "tapped out," "exhausted," or (another possibility) "spent."

Chris Sunami
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