spate

noun

ˈspāt 

1

: freshet, flood

2

a

: a large number or amount

a spate of books

b

: a sudden or strong outburst : rush

a spate of anger

Synonyms of spate

• flood
• torrent

Examples of spate in a Sentence

A spate of books on the subject have come out recently.

There was a spate of corporate mergers in the 1980s.

Recent Examples on the Web

OpenAI is unveiling new, stronger security safeguards around its training and testing in light of new model capabilities and a spate of incidents in which artificial intelligence systems hacked into other companies. — Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 18 Aug. 2026

Many remember the spate of lawsuits against Anthropic, for pirating book data, some of which are still going on. — John Werner, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Over the past few months, a spate of Wisconsin towns and cities have withdrawn from Flock deals over privacy and trust concerns. — Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica, 17 Aug. 2026

Two thefts, a growing trend The two incidents highlight a recent spate of art thefts across Europe. — Willem Marx, NPR, 16 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing spate

• in spate

Rhymes for spate

• ate
• bait
• bate
• cate
• crate
• date
• eight
• fait
• fate
• fete
• frate
• freight

Kids Definition

spate

noun

ˈspāt 

: a sudden flood or rush