Situation
Pronunciation
- enPR: sÄt-yoÍžo-Ä'shÉ™n, IPA: /sɪtjuËˈeɪʃən/, /sɪtʃuˈ(w)eɪʃən/
- Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Alternative forms
- scituation hyperâ€correct, obsolete
Origin
From French situation, from Medieval Latin situatio ("position, situation"), from situare ("to locate, place"), from Latin situs ("a site").
Full definition of situation
Noun
situation
(plural situations)- The way in which something is positioned vis-Ã -vis its surroundings.The Botanical Gardens are in a delightful situation on the river bank.
- 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows:...he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.
- The place in which something is situated; a location.
- 1833, Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory, page 142:HibÃscus speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
- Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
- The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.The United States is in an awkward situation with debt default looming.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 5, Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.
- (UK) A position of employment; a post.
- 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin 2006, page 78:When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
- 1946, Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie:You take a morning paper from the top of the stackAnd read the situations from the front to the backThe only job that's open need a man with a knackSo put it right back in the rack Jack.
- A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.Boss, we've got a situation here …