lătē^bra — Lewis & Short
lătē^bra, ae, f.lateo,
I a hiding-place, lurking-hole, covert, retreat (class.; most freq. in plur.; v. infra, II. B.).
I Lit.:
(aurum) in latebris situm est,Plaut. Aul. 4, 2, 2:
itaque in totis aedibus tenebrae, latebrae,id. Poen. 4, 2, 13:
latebris ac silvis aut saltibus se eripere,Caes. B. G. 6, 43:
Cappadociae latebris se occultare,Cic. de Imp. Pomp. 3, 7:
aliquem in latebras impellere,id. Rab. Perd. 8, 22:
at Scyllam caecis cohibet spelunca latebris,Verg. A. 3, 424:
tum latebras animae, pectus mucrone recludit,the hidden seat of life, id. ib. 10, 601:
solis defectus lunaeque latebrae,i. e. eclipses of the moon, Lucr. 5, 751. —In sing., Cic. Cael. 26, 62:
extractus e latebra,Suet. Vit. 17; id. Ner. 48:
bellorum,a place of refuge from war, Luc. 5, 743: teli, the weapon's lurking-place, i. e. the place where the arrow-head was sticking in his body, Verg. A. 12, 389.—
II Trop.
A In gen., a lurking-place, hidden recess, retreat:
in latebras abscondas (stultitiam) pectore penitissumo,Plaut. Cist. 1, 1, 64; Lucr. 1, 408:
cum illa conjuratio ex latebris atque ex tenebris erupisset,Cic. Sest. 4, 9:
latebras suspicionum peragrare,id. Cael. 22, 53; Quint. 12, 9, 3.—In sing.:
adhibuit etiam latebram obscuritatis,Cic. Div. 2, 45, 111:
in tabellae latebra,id. Fam. 3, 12, 1:
scribendi,a secret mode of writing, a writing in cipher, Gell. 17, 9, 4.—
B In partic., a subterfuge, shift, cloak, pretence, feigned excuse (only in sing.):
latebram haberes,Cic. Fin. 2, 33, 107:
magnificam in latebram conjecisti,id. Div. 2, 20, 46:
videant, ne quaeratur latebra perjurio,id. Off. 3, 29, 106:
latebram dare vitiis,Ov. A. A. 3, 754.