spate
a sudden, almost overwhelming, outpouring: a spate of angry words.
British.
a flood or inundation.
a river flooding its banks.
a sudden or heavy rainstorm.
Origin of spate
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use spate in a sentence
Sudden spates sometimes sweep away men and cattle before they can get across.
The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir | Sir James McCrone DouieAt length June arrived; and though winter lingered in spates, the song of the skylark and the thrush heralded the spring.
Winter Evening Tales | Amelia Edith Huddleston BarrIf I know aught of Highland spates, they will both be down in the hour and fishable.
From Edinburgh to India & Burmah | William G. Burn MurdochBut the Pegnitz is liable to sudden and violent spates which have continually swept away the old bridges.
The Story of Nuremberg | Cecil HeadlamHugh Boy found one of these which leaned far over the water, having had its roots undermined by the winter spates.
Cleg Kelly, Arab of the City | S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett
British Dictionary definitions for spate
/ (speɪt) /
a fast flow, rush, or outpouring: a spate of words
mainly British a sudden flood: the rivers were in spate
mainly British a sudden heavy downpour
Origin of spate
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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