Definition of "situation"

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.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.

[…] 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.

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons

[Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.

1833, Thomas Hibbert, Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory, page 142

‘Let me hear another sound from you,’ said Scrooge, ‘and you’ll keep your Christmas by losing your situation!

1843, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 3”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […]

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.

1946, Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie

This survey includes all key situations (including Paramount Gulf Theaters) as well as suburban runs and small-town situations.

1950, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means, Revenue Revision of 1950: Hearings Before the Committee, page 1805

[…] Craterian theatre, with a full-scale advance campaign and preliminary screenings held for opinion-makers. Results and reactions will be closely studied and, if popular, the idea will be extended to other situations.

1960, Motion Picture Herald, volumes 218-219, page 14