Rife perhaps and it spreads rapidly (8)
I believe the answer is:
wildfire
'rife perhaps and it spreads rapidly' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'rife perhaps and it spreads' is the wordplay.
'perhaps' is an anagram indicator.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'it spreads' becomes 'wild' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'rife' with letters rearranged gives 'fire'.
'fire' after 'wild' is 'WILDFIRE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wildfire that I've seen before include "Combustible liquid, prov. fast-spreading" , "Raging blaze, spreading quickly" , "Sweeping destructive conflagration" , "It spreads fast" , "Rapidly spreading conflagration" .)