1
as in floods
a great flow of water or of something that overwhelms
a spate of words has been published on this controversial topic
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in loads
a considerable amount
an off-color remark that drew a spate of complaints from TV viewers
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spates
When spates of violence like that occur, Norman said the department increases patrols in that area, drawing on resources from outside the area to do so.
—
David Clarey, jsonline.com, 28 Aug. 2025
David Clarey, jsonline.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spates
Noun
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Federal authorities from several offices also conducted rescues and life-saving efforts after floods in San Antonio, Texas, DHS said.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
9 Jan. 2026
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Take the heat waves, droughts and floods that dogged a quarter of the European Union last summer.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But, at a moment when big narrative audio studios are shuttering, loads of people are being laid off and fewer documentary series are being made, this sentence really struck a nerve in the industry of folks who produce, write, edit and sound design longform narrative audio.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
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That could mean co-locating with renewables, using batteries to extend solar availability, or making data centers flexible enough to shift heavy compute loads to periods of abundant clean power.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic’s steep terrain will force air upward, wringing out more moisture from the storm, just like squeezing a wet sponge, turning tropical humidity into torrents racing downhill.—
Chris Dolce,
CNN Money,
25 Oct. 2025
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The death of Banda Amidst the torrents, Arisu follows the sound of Usagi’s voice, as they are both swept towards a watery vortex that leads to the world of the dead.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Chicago O’Hare, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, Denver International and Dallas-Fort Worth also experienced dozens of cancellations and hundreds of delays, FlightAware data shows.—
Emma Tucker,
CNN Money,
8 Nov. 2025
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The original location closed more than a dozen years ago.—
Susan Selasky,
Freep.com,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
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But given the size and mass of an Orion spacecraft – ranging from 330 to 440,925 tons (300 to 400,000 metric tons) – the number of rockets this would require was unrealistic.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Jan. 2026
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Russian military bloggers said the submunitions released by each warhead apparently were unarmed but had high kinetic energy estimated to deliver a destructive force equivalent to tons of explosives.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Shelf ice forms along beaches where ice piles up after being pushed to shore.—
Sarah Moore,
Freep.com,
5 Jan. 2026
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Amid a large snowstorm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, one curious dog dived into piles of snow in a now-viral video.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
2 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Act fast to shop Amazon’s current hottest deals because prices aren’t guaranteed to last through the month.—
Chaise Sanders,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Jan. 2026
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Keep scrolling to check out more of the best Le Creuset deals happening at Amazon.—
Isabel Garcia,
PEOPLE,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In a field experiment with hundreds of consultants, GPT-4 improved speed and quality on some knowledge tasks while performance dropped on other, seemingly similar tasks just outside its strengths.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
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In San Francisco, hundreds of people gathered for a protest and march to speak out against ICE, with many expressing anger and outrage about the fatal shooting in Minneapolis.—
Andrea Nakano,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spates. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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