lăcĕro — Lewis & Short
lăcĕro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a.lacer,
I to tear to pieces, to mangle, rend, mutilate, lacerate (class., esp. in the trop. sense; syn.: lanio, discerpo).
I Lit.:
quin spolies, mutiles, laceres quemquam nacta sis,Ter. Hec. 1, 1, 8: lacerat lacertum Largi mordax Memmius, Crass. ap. Cic. de Or. 2, 59, 240:
corpus uti volucres lacerent in morte feraeque,Lucr. 3, 880:
membra aliena,Juv. 15, 102; cf.: lacerato corpore, Enn. ap. Macr. S. 6, 2 (Trag. v. 95 Vahl.):
morsu viscera, Cic. poët. Tusc. 2, 8: ora, comas, vestem lacerat,Ov. M. 11, 726:
amictus,Sil. 13, 389:
genas,Ov. Tr. 3, 3, 51:
verbere terga,id. F. 2, 695:
Tum autem Syrum impulsorem, vah, quibus illum lacerarem modis,Ter. Ad. 3, 2, 17:
tergum virgis,Liv. 3, 58; 26, 13:
unguibus cavos recessus luminum,Sen. Oedip. 968:
quid miserum laceras?Verg. A. 3, 41:
ferro,Hor. C. 3, 27, 46:
loricam,Verg. A. 12, 98: lacerari morsibus saevis canum, Phaedr. 1, 12, 11:
ferae corpus lacerabant,Petr. 115 sq.:
carnes dentibus,Vulg. Job, 13, 4; id. Gen. 40, 19.—
B Esp.
1 To break up, to wreck, shatter:
navem Ulixis,Ov. P. 3, 6, 19:
majorem partem classis,Vell. 2, 79, 3:
naves,Liv. 29, 8:
navigia,Curt. 4, 3, 18:
lecticam,Suet. Aug. 91.—
2 To cut up, carve:
obsonium,Petr. 36:
anserem,id. 137; 74.—
3 To waste, plunder: cum Hannibal terram Italiam laceraret atque vexaret, Cato ap. Serv. Verg. E. 6, 7, 6:
orbem,Juv. 4, 37.—
II Trop.
A To tear to pieces with words, to censure, asperse, abuse, rail at:
obtrectatio invidiaque, quae solet lacerare plerosque,Cic. Brut. 42, 156:
optimum virum verborum contumeliis,id. Phil. 11, 2:
aliquem probris,Liv. 31, 6:
Pompeium dempto metu lacerant,Sall. H. 3, 61, 21 Dietsch:
meque vosque male dictis,id. J. 85, 26:
famam alicujus,to slander, calumniate, id. 38, 54:
alicujus carmina,Ov. P. 4, 16, 1:
lacerari crebro vulgi rumore,Tac. A. 15, 73.—
B To distress, torture, pain, afflict:
intolerabili dolore lacerari,Cic. Ac. 2, 8, 23:
quam omni crudelitate lacerastis,id. Dom. 23, 59:
quid laceras pectora nostra morā?Ov. H. 15, 212:
meus me maeror cottidianus lacerat et conficit,Cic. Att. 3, 8, 2; cf.:
aegritudo lacerat, exest animum planeque conficit,id. Tusc. 3, 13, 27.—
C To ruin, destroy, dissipate, squander, waste:
male suadendo et lustris lacerant homines,Plaut. Curc. 4, 2, 22:
patriam omni scelere,Cic. Off. 1, 17, 57:
bonorum emptores, ut carnifices, ad reliquias vitae lacerandas et distrahendas,to scatter, disperse, Cic. Quint. 15, 50:
pecuniam,to squander, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 70, § 164:
lacerari valde suam rem,Plaut. Merc. 1, 1, 48; cf.:
bona patria manu, ventre,to lavish, squander, Sall. C. 14, 2:
diem,to waste, Plaut. As. 2, 2, 25; id. Stich. 3, 1, 45.