0 a larger number of events than usual, especially unpleasant ones, happening at about the same time:
Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the Kingsland Road area.
1 an unusually large number of events that happen suddenly and at about the same time:
We have had a spate of burglaries recently.
In small rivers and streams sudden spates following heavy rainfall will cause major fluctuations in population density and may be an important factor in the dispersal of snails.
In summer, horses could cross the rivers at fords, but in spring these rivers were in spate.
The global seed industry continues to see a spate of mergers and acquisitions.
A spate of important studies was published in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The past decade has seen a spate of books about country music.
There is no gainsaying that the civilian administration has been concerned with the rising spate of conflicts in the country.
Of the recent spate of feature films set in the eighteenth century, one in particular has marketed itself through its reconstructive credentials.
Given the recent spate of articles on the romance, it can no longer be considered virtually unknown.
