lătēbra (noun F) : lateo
* A hiding-place, lurking-hole, covert, retreat (class.; most freq. in plur.; v.infra, II. B.).
* 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.
* Trop.
* 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.
* 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.

s. TLL