/speɪt; spet/
n
1 [sing] sudden fast rush (of business, etc) （生意等的）突然增多
*a spate of orders 突如其来的一大批订货单
* a spate of new cars on the market 突然上市的一批新汽车
* a spate of (cases of) influenza in the winter 冬天的一阵流感.
2 (idm 习语) in `spate (of a river, etc) flowing strongly at a much higher level than normal （指河水等）高涨
*After the storm all the rivers were in spate. 暴雨过後河水都上涨了.

n
[Date: 1400-1500; Origin: Perhaps from Old French espoit, from Dutch spuiten 'to flow out strongly']
spate of sth
a large number of similar things that happen in a short period of time, especially bad things
　a spate of burglaries
in spate
BrE a river, stream etc that is in spate is very full and flowing very fast