(verb) : lăbo, āvi, ātum, 1, from the same root as 1. labor
* To totter, be ready to fall, begin to sink, to give way, be loosened (syn.: vacillo, titubo, nato).
* Lit.: labat, labuntur saxa, caementae cadunt, Enn. ap. Non. 196, 3 (Trag. v. 142 Vahl.): signum labat,Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 43, 95: si ex ictu ... labant dentes,Cels. 7, 12, 1: labat ariete crebro Janua,Verg. A. 2, 492: labant curvae naves,roll,Ov. M. 2, 163: pressaeque labant sub gurgite turres,id. ib. 1, 290: (turris) qua summa labantis Juncturas tabulata dabant,Verg. A. 2, 463: littera labat,written with a trembling hand,Ov. H. 10, 140: labare sermone,to stutter, speak indistinctly,Plin. 14, 22, 28, § 146: si labat oculus et hac atque illac movetur,is unsteady,Cels. 7, 7, 14: tarda trementi genua labant,sink,Verg. A. 5, 432; so, pedes,Ov. F. 6, 676: vincla labant,are loosed,id. A. A. 2, 85.—Poet., of dying persons: inde labant populi,fall, sink,Luc. 6, 93; cf.: omnia tum vero vitaï claustra lababant,Lucr. 6, 1153.—With Gr. acc.: egressi labant vestigia prima,Verg. A. 10, 283 Forbig. (Rib. egressisque).
* Trop.
* To waver, to be unstable, undecided, to hesitate (in opinion, resolution, etc.): si res labat, Itidem amici collabascunt,Plaut. Stich. 4, 1, 16; cf.: scito, labare meum consilium illud, quod satis jam fixum videbatur,Cic. Att. 8, 14, 2: labamus mutamusque sententiam,id. Tusc. 1, 32, 78: cum ei labare M. Antonius videretur,id. Phil. 6, 4, 10: animumque labantem inpulit,Verg. A. 4, 22: labantia corda,id. ib. 12, 223: socii labant,waver in fidelity,Liv. 22, 61; cf.: fides sociorum,id. 32, 30, 9: animus regis,id. 40, 54; 2, 39: quīs lababat fides,whose fidelity was wavering,Sil. 2, 392: mens,Ov. M. 6, 629: tu mente labantem dirige me,Luc. 2, 244: ex nimia matrem pietate labare sensit,Ov. M. 6, 629: memoria labat,becomes weak,Liv. 5, 18; cf.: mens in illis (phreneticis) labat, in hoc (cordiaco) constat,Cels. 3, 19: nec dubium habebatur labare hostes,Tac. A. 2, 26: labante jam Agrippina,id. H. 14, 22: labantem ordinem contirmare,Suet. Caes. 14: acies labantes restituere,Tac. G. 8 init.: sustinere labantem aciem,id. H. 3, 23; 5, 18.
* To sink, fall to pieces, go to ruin: quid non sic aliud ex alio nectitur, ut non, si unam litteram moveris, labent omnia?Cic. Fin. 3, 22, 74: omnes rei publicae partes aegras et labantes sanare et confirmare,id. Mil. 25, 68; cf.: sustinuisse labantem fortunam populi Romani,Liv. 26, 41: sicuti populo Romano sua fortuna labet,id. 42, 50: labante egregia quondam disciplina,id. 36, 6: cum res Trojana labaret,Ov. M. 15, 437: labantibus Vitellii rebus,Tac. H. 2, 86: si quid in moribus labaret,id. A. 2, 33.

s. TLL