1. situation(n = noun.state) state of affairs - the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time; "the present international situation is dangerous"; "wondered how such a state of affairs had come about"; "eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation"
is a kind of state
has particulars: absurd, the absurd, acceptance, ballgame, new ballgame, challenge, childlessness, complication, crowding, disequilibrium, element, environment, equilibrium, exclusion, fish bowl, fishbowl, goldfish bowl, hotbed, inclusion, intestacy, picture, scene, prison, prison house, rejection, size, size of it, square one, status quo, thing
2. situation(n = noun.state) position - a condition or position in which you find yourself; "the unpleasant situation (or position) of having to choose between two evils"; "found herself in a very fortunate situation"
is a kind of condition, status
has particulars: place, shoes, poverty trap, soup, stymie, stymy
3. situation(n = noun.state) - a complex or critical or unusual difficulty; "the dangerous situation developed suddenly"; "that's quite a situation"; "no human situation is simple"
is a kind of difficulty
has particulars: conflict of interest, crisis, crunch, hornet's nest, hornets' nest, hot potato, how-d'ye-do, how-do-you-do, embroilment, imbroglio, mexican standoff, incubus, nightmare, no-win situation, pass, strait, straits, purgatory, swamp, ticking bomb, time bomb, tinderbox, urgency, dead end, deadlock, impasse, stalemate, standstill, quicksand
4. situation(n = noun.location) site - physical position in relation to the surroundings; "the sites are determined by highly specific sequences of nucleotides"
is a kind of place, position
has particulars: active site, close quarters, locus, locus of infection, restriction site, antigenic determinant, determinant, epitope
Derived form verb situate1
5. situation(n = noun.act) berth, billet, office, place, position, post, spot - a job in an organization; "he occupied a post in the treasury"
is a kind of business, job, line, line of work, occupation
has particulars: academicianship, accountantship, admiralty, ambassadorship, apostleship, apprenticeship, associateship, attorneyship, bailiffship, baronetage, bishopry, episcopate, cadetship, caliphate, captaincy, captainship, cardinalship, chairmanship, chancellorship, chaplaincy, chaplainship, chieftaincy, chieftainship, clerkship, commandership, commandery, comptrollership, consulship, controllership, councillorship, councilorship, counsellorship, counselorship, curacy, curatorship, custodianship, deanery, deanship, directorship, discipleship, editorship, eldership, emirate, fatherhood, fatherhood, foremanship, generalcy, generalship, governorship, headship, headship, hot seat, incumbency, inspectorship, instructorship, internship, judgeship, judicature, khanate, lectureship, legateship, legation, legislatorship, librarianship, lieutenancy, magistracy, magistrature, managership, manhood, marshalship, mastership, mayoralty, messiahship, moderatorship, overlordship, pastorate, pastorship, peasanthood, plum, praetorship, precentorship, preceptorship, prefecture, prelacy, prelature, premiership, presidency, presidentship, primateship, principalship, priorship, proconsulate, proconsulship, proctorship, chair, professorship, protectorship, public office, rabbinate, receivership, rectorate, rectorship, regency, residency, rulership, sainthood, secretaryship, feudal lordship, seigneury, seigniory, senatorship, sinecure, solicitorship, speakership, stewardship, studentship, teachership, thaneship, throne, treasurership, tribuneship, trusteeship, vice-presidency, viceroyship, viziership, wardenship, wardership, womanhood
1. Manner in which an object is placed; location, esp. as related to something else; position; locality site; as, a house in a pleasant situation. [1913 Webster]
2. Position, as regards the conditions and circumstances of the case. [1913 Webster]
"A situation of the greatest ease and tranquillity." [1913 Webster]
3. Relative position; circumstances; temporary state or relation at a moment of action which excites interest, as of persons in a dramatic scene. [1913 Webster]
"There's situation for you! there's an heroic group!" [1913 Webster]
4. Permanent position or employment; place; office; as, a situation in a store; a situation under government. [1913 Webster]
situation, n.
1 a place and its surroundings (the house stands in a fine situation).
2 a set of circumstances; a position in which one finds oneself; a state of affairs (came out of a difficult situation with credit).
3 an employee's position or job.
4 a critical point or complication in a drama.
Idiom:
situation comedy a comedy in which the humour derives from the situations the characters are placed in. situations vacant (or wanted) headings of lists of employment offered and sought.
Derivative:
situational adj.
Etymology:
ME f. F situation or med.L situatio (as SITUATE)
N business, occupation, employment, pursuit, what one is doing, what one is about, affair, concern, matter, case, matter in hand, irons in the fire, thing to do, agendum, task, work, job, chore, errand, commission, mission, charge, care, duty, part, role, cue, province, function, lookout, department, capacity, sphere, orb, field, line, walk, walk of life, beat, round, routine, race, career, office, place, post, chargeship, incumbency, living, situation, berth, employ, service, engagement, undertaking, vocation, calling, profession, cloth, faculty, industry, art, industrial arts, craft, mystery, handicraft, trade, exercise, work, avocation, press of business, businesslike, workaday, professional, official, functional, busy, on hand, in hand, in one's hands, afoot, on foot, on the anvil, going on, acting, in the course of business, all in one's day's work, professionally Adj, a business with an income at its heels, amoto quaeramus seria ludo, par negotiis neque supra.
VB pass one's time in, employ one's time in, spend one's time in, employ oneself in, employ oneself upon, occupy oneself with, concern oneself with, make it one's business, undertake, enter a profession, betake oneself to, turn one's hand to, have to do with, office, place, post, chargeship, incumbency, living, situation, berth, employ, service, engagement, undertaking, drive a trade, carry on a trade, do a trade, transact a trade, carry on business, do business, transact business, keep a shop, ply one's task, ply one's trade, labor in one's vocation, pursue the even tenor of one's way, attend to business, attend to one's work, officiate, serve, act, act one's part, play one's part, do duty, serve the office of, discharge the office of, perform the office of, perform the duties of, perform the functions of, hold an office, fill an office, fill a place, fill a situation, hold a portfolio, hold a place, hold a situation, be about, be doing, be engaged in, be employed in, be occupied with, be at work on, have one's hands in, have in hand, have on one's hands, have on one's shoulders, bear the burden, have one's hands full, be in the hands of, be on the stocks, be on the anvil, pass through one's hands, Adj, businesslike, workaday, professional, official, functional, busy, on hand, in hand, in one's hands, afoot, on foot, on the anvil, going on, acting, Adv, in the course of business, all in one's day's work, professionally.
N circumstance, situation, phase, position, posture, attitude, place, point, terms, regime, footing, standing, status, occasion, juncture, conjunctive, contingency, predicament, emergence, emergency, exigency, crisis, pinch, pass, push, occurrence, turning point, bearings, how the land lies, surroundings, context, environment, location, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), causation, attribution, circumstantial, given, conditional, provisional, critical, modal, contingent, incidental, adventitious, limitative, in the circumstances, under the circumstances, the circumstances, conditions, thus, in such wise, accordingly, that being the case, such being the case, in view of the circumstances, that being so, sith, since, seeing that, as matters stand, as things go, as times go, conditionally, provided, if, in case, if so, if so be, if it be so, depending on circumstances, in certain circumstances, under certain conditions, if it so happen, if it so turn out, in the event of, in such a contingency, in such a case, in such an event, provisionally, unless, without, according to circumstances, according to the occasion, as it may happen, as it may turn out, as it may be, as the case may be, as the wind blows, pro re nata, yet are my sins not those of circumstance.
N eventuality, event, occurrence, incident, affair, matter, thing, episode, happening, proceeding, contingency, juncture, experience, fact, matter of fact, naked fact, bare facts, just the facts, phenomenon, advent, business, concern, transaction, dealing, proceeding, circumstance, particular, casualty, accident, adventure, passage, crisis, pass, emergency, contingency, consequence, opportunity (occasion), the world, life, things, doings, affairs in general, things in general, affairs in general, the times, state of affairs, order of the day, course of things, tide of things, stream of things, current of things, run of things, march of things, course of events, ups and downs of life, vicissitudes of life, chapter of accidents, situation, happening, going on, doing, current, in the wind, in the air, afloat, on foot, afoot, on the tapis, at issue, in question, incidental, eventful, stirring, bustling, full of incident, memorable, momentous, signal, eventually, in the event of, in case, just in case, in the course of things, as things, times go, as the world goes, wags, as the tree falls, cat jumps, as it may turn out, happen, that's the way the ball bounces, that's the way the cookie crumbles, you never know what may turn up, you never know what the future will bring, the plot thickens, breasts the blows of circumstance, so runs round of life from hour to hour, sprinkled along the waste of years.
N situation, position, locality, locale, status, latitude and longitude, footing, standing, standpoint, post, stage, aspect, attitude, posture, pose, environment, surroundings (location), circumjacence, place, site, station, seat, venue, whereabouts, ground, bearings, spot, topography, geography, chorography, map, situate, situated, local, topical, topographical, in situ, in loco, here and there, passim, hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts, in place, here, there, in such and such surroundings, in such and such environs, in such and such entourage, amidst such and such surroundings, amidst such and such environs, amidst such and such entourage.
N location, localization, lodgment, deposition, reposition, stowage, package, collocation, packing, lading, establishment, settlement, installation, fixation, insertion, habitat, environment, surroundings (situation), circumjacence, anchorage, mooring, encampment, plantation, colony, settlement, cantonment, colonization, domestication, situation, habitation, cohabitation, a local habitation and a name, endenization, naturalization, placed, situate, posited, ensconced, imbedded, embosomed, rooted, domesticated, vested in, unremoved, moored, at anchor.