spate
Americannoun
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a sudden, almost overwhelming, outpouring.
a spate of angry words.
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British.
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a flood or inundation.
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a river flooding its banks.
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a sudden or heavy rainstorm.
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noun
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a fast flow, rush, or outpouring
a spate of words
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a sudden flood
the rivers were in spate
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a sudden heavy downpour
Etymology
Origin of spate
1400–50; late Middle English (north) < ?
Explanation
A spate is a large number. If a spate of new coffee shops open in your neighborhood, it’ll be easy for you to stay wide awake. You’ll have easy access to plenty of caffeine. Though it’s now used to describe a large number or unusually large amount of something, the word spate originally described a sudden flood of water, such as a river overflowing after a downpour. Thinking about being overwhelmed by a sudden rush of water will help you remember to use spate when you encounter an unexpected overflow of anything, whether it’s books, robberies, celebrity break-ups, or corporate mergers.
Vocabulary lists containing spate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Born a Crime
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Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The recent spate of congressional deaths may be a sign that old age is finally catching up with it.
From Slate • Apr. 24, 2026
Stress has been building, as a spate of defaults and losses, combined with fears about the fate of loans to software companies, caused a stampede of individual investors asking for their money back.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
The recent spate of higher international oil prices are also expected to reaccelerate inflation and further weigh on consumers.
From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026
Amazon has suffered a spate of outages, some of them lasting hours, since it began entrusting more software coding responsibilities to AI bots while laying off human engineers, according to the Financial Times.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026
Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff and students.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
