Labo, labas, priore cor. labâre. To fall downe sodeinly: to faint.Aedes labantes resicere. Hor. To repaire houses ready to fall.Cursus labat mihi incerto limite.Stat.Dentes labant. Cell. The teeth fall out.Genua labant.Virg.His knees faulter vnder him.Naues labant.Ouid.Dubij stántque labántque pedes.Ouid.Labare sermone, per translationem. Pli. To faint in speaking: to speake as he were afraid.Acies labans. Tac. An armie halfe discomfited and readie to flie.Labant animi.Liu.Their harts faile them.Labat consiliÛ meum quod sixum erat.Cic.I begin to doubt of my purpose, that hefore I was throughly fired on.Corda vulgi labantia variant. Vir. The hearts of the common sort begianing to faile them doe chaunge.Fortuna dubia reges inter incertos labat. Se. Fortune doubtfull wauereth betweene the two kings now inclining to this part, and now to that.Memoria labat. Liu Memorie faileth.Mens labat. Celf. His wit faileth him: hee is not well in his witte.Oculi labantes languore. Ca. Eies that one cannot holde vp for feeblenesse.In dubio pectora nostra labant.Ouid.We be in doubt whether we may do it or no.Spes labat misto metu.Ouid.Hope wauereth.Vita labat.Ouid.His life is not vpright.
Lewis and Short: Latin dictionary
lăbo, āvi, ātum, 1, v. n. [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). I.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).—II.Trop.A.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,
, 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.—B.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.