Technically, the first definition, as being what is indicated; in that capacity: An officer of the law, as such, is entitled to respect, is correct. It's what has just been indicated by the preceding passage/text.
It simply means 'as a result,' 'because of this,' 'thus,' 'therefore,' etc.
If you want to define it in terms of to indicate, then it literally means as indicated by what was just said, or as a result of this.
But what about in that capacity? If capacity means position; function; role, then I'm guessing this part of definition a does not apply?
It does apply generally speaking. In that capacity, the original origins of the phrase caused it to invoke physical helplessness.
Capacity references the state of being limb-less and being carried around in a basket, which is mentioned in the sentence before it. That capacity invokes feelings of helplessness when the narrator thinks of the idiom basket case. In other words, that idiom invokes feelings of helplessness when thought of in the capacity of being limb-less and unable to move.
You're taking the definition of this transition phrase way too literally.
When you say "someone was survived by so-and-so", it means that that someone is deceased, and their surviving relatives are so-and-so.
Here, it means "her partner X was still alive when she died."
Best Answer
In general, "such was the [noun]" or "such is the [noun]" are used when you want to indicate that the description of the subject is coming soon or has immediately preceded.
In this context, "such was her astonishment" at the beginning of the sentence is pointing to the description of her astonishment that follows. For clarification, remove the middle part of the sentence to make this connection easier to see:
"Such was her astonishment that she leaned against the wall, incapable of making another move."
"Such was" can be used in this way after the description rather than before it:
"She leaned against the wall, incapable of making another move. Such was her astonishment."
In this case I moved "such was her astonishment" to a new sentence after the description of the astonishment.
Here is an example of the same structure used in a different sentence: