third degree

noun
1.
intensive questioning or rough treatment, especially by the police, in order to get information or a confession.
2.
the degree of master mason in Freemasonry.
Origin
1860-65

third-degree

[thurd-di-gree] /ˈθɜrd dɪˈgri/
verb (used with object), third-degreed, third-degreeing.
1.
to subject to the third degree.
adjective
2.
of or pertaining to the third degree.
Origin
1895-1900, Americanism
Examples from the web for third degree
  • These scientists used more than a third degree polynomial to fit the data.
  • She'd tipped over a lantern to set herself on fire, burning third degree holes into her sternum.
  • These scientists used more than a third degree polynomial to fit the data.
British Dictionary definitions for third degree

third degree

noun
1.
(informal) torture or bullying, esp used to extort confessions or information
Word Origin and History for third degree
n.

"intense interrogation by police," 1900, probably a reference to Third Degree of master mason in Freemasonry (1772), the conferring of which included an interrogation ceremony. Third degree as a measure of severity of burns (most severe) is attested from 1866, from French (1832); in American English, as a definition of the seriousness of a particular type of crime (the least serious type) it is recorded from 1865.

Slang definitions & phrases for third degree

third degree

n phr,n

Long and harsh, even brutal, questioning, esp by the police: The Third Degree, A Detailed and Appalling Expose´ of Police Brutality/ He's giving me a third about some gun he says I had

[1900+; origin uncertain]


Idioms and Phrases with third degree

third degree

Intensive questioning or rough treatment used to obtain information or a confession, as in The detectives gave her the third degree, or Jim gave her the third degree when she came home so late. This term comes from freemasonry, where a candidate receives the third or highest degree, that of master mason, upon passing an intensive test. Dating from the 1770s, the phrase was transferred to other kinds of interrogation in the late 1800s.