spate

[ speyt ]
See synonyms for spate on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a sudden, almost overwhelming, outpouring: a spate of angry words.

  2. British.

    • a flood or inundation.

    • a river flooding its banks.

    • a sudden or heavy rainstorm.

Origin of spate

1
1400–50; late Middle English (north) < ?

Dictionary.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.

  • At 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 Barr
  • If I know aught of Highland spates, they will both be down in the hour and fishable.

    From Edinburgh to India & Burmah | William G. Burn Murdoch
  • But the Pegnitz is liable to sudden and violent spates which have continually swept away the old bridges.

    The Story of Nuremberg | Cecil Headlam
  • Hugh 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

spate

/ (speɪt) /


noun
  1. a fast flow, rush, or outpouring: a spate of words

  2. mainly British a sudden flood: the rivers were in spate

  1. mainly British a sudden heavy downpour

Origin of spate

1
C15 (Northern and Scottish): of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012