/ speɪt; NAmE / noun
[ usually sing. ] spate of sth a large number of things, which are usually unpleasant, that happen suddenly within a short period of time :
The bombing was the latest in a spate of terrorist attacks.
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IDIOMS
- in (full) spate
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (originally Scots and northern English in the sense flood, inundation ): of unknown origin.