Excessive water in mixing paste (5)
I believe the answer is:
spate
'excessive water in' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both quantities as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'mixing paste' is the wordplay.
'mixing' indicates anagramming the letters.
'paste' is an anagram of 'SPATE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for spate that I've seen before include "A torrent of tapes" , "Suddenly got a lot" , "rash" , "A sudden flood or rush" , "Flood; sudden burst" .)