lătē̆bra, ae, f. [lateo], 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.