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spate

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A sudden flood, rush, or outpouring, especially of water; a torrent or rapid flow; also describes a sudden large quantity of anything occurring at once.

Detailed Definition
“Spate” conveys overwhelming abundance—spate of rain, spate of tears. In poetry, it symbolizes uncontrollable release. The term’s sharpness mirrors force. Poets use it to explore how pressure bursts bounds, where spates mark catharsis or disaster, reinforcing themes of emotion, nature’s power, and the limits of containment in lyrical and descriptive contexts.
Example
Example in poetry:
“A spate of grief overwhelmed her,” in an emotional torrent; In natural metaphor: “The river ran in spate after the thaw”; “A spate of rumors flooded the court”; “His verse came in a spate, unstoppable”; “The spate of war drowned peace”; After silence, a spate of song.
Additional Notes
“Spate” denotes sudden, overwhelming flood—of water, words, or grief; in Romantic or elegiac verse, a “spate of tears” mirrors natural deluges, linking internal and external torrents in expressions of uncontrollable emotion.
Also Known As
flood deluge torrent
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