spate
(countable, figurative) A sudden increase or rush of something; a flood, an outburst, an outpouring.
Seen in the wild
"Prosecutors to ‘fast-track’ hate crime cases in England and Wales after spate of attacks"
Surprised that most peonies are now in full spate at Kew Gardens. Grey afternoon but plenty of colour yesterday.
After a spate of deaths and illnesses stemming from a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, health officials now suspect human-to-human transmission may have played a role in the spread of this potentially deadly infe…
Multiple police agencies across the East Bay are searching for suspects tied to a spate of business burglaries that spanned several cities in April.
The search engine follows a spate of Y2K sites to the digital graveyard, as AI bots take over the query space. https://sherwood.news/culture/ask-com-has-shut-down-after-almost-30-years/
Definitions
(countable, figurative) A sudden increase or rush of something; a flood, an outburst, an outpouring.
Only let your language match your subject, then it will be shapely and free; but take care all the time not to overwhelm your work in a spate of words to attain the fluency of Isaeus; and that it slip not out too freely, avoid the danger…
Comments
(countable) A (sudden) flood or inundation of water; specifically, a flood in or overflow of a river or other watercourse due to heavy rain or melting snow; (uncountable, archaic) flooding, inundation.
“"Prosecutors to ‘fast-track’ hate crime cases in England and Wales after spate of attacks"”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Surprised that most peonies are now in full spate at Kew Gardens. Grey afternoon but plenty of colour yesterday.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“After a spate of deaths and illnesses stemming from a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, health officials now suspect human-to-human transmission may have played a role in the spread of this potentially deadly infection www.cbc.ca/news/health/...”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Multiple police agencies across the East Bay are searching for suspects tied to a spate of business burglaries that spanned several cities in April.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“The search engine follows a spate of Y2K sites to the digital graveyard, as AI bots take over the query space. https://sherwood.news/culture/ask-com-has-shut-down-after-almost-30-years/”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
(countable) A sudden heavy downpour of rain.
“The assault weapon ban was voted into law by the Denver City Council in 1989 after a spate of gun violence shocked the city. The ban has been widely endorsed by the city’s chiefs of police.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“After a spate of deadly shootings in recent months, Cape Town’s rival taxi associations, CODETA and CATA, came together on Monday and agreed to end violent conflict. Read groundup.org.za/article/cape... by Sandiso Phaliso”
— Bluesky· May 2026“This is curiously one of the things that makes the recent spate of antisemitic attacks in the UK even more disturbing. People commit these horrible crimes, and are then caught. And then other people commit other horrible crimes. There isn't as defined a structure to fight.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“From 1542, Scotland had seen a spate of battles, largely over religion. With neighbouring England breaking away from Rome, Scotland, ruled at the time by the English king's nephew, was pushed to follow suit. But the king refused and a state of war followed. 3/10”
— Bluesky· May 2026“‘Time the rest of us stepped up’: terror survivors’ group writes letter in support of UK Jews Letter coordinated by Survivors Against Terror, which includes bereaved relatives, after spate of attacks on Jewish community www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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