third degree
third degree noun: intensive rough interrogation in order to extract information or a confession.
Noun
third degree
- Intensive rough interrogation in order to extract information or a confession
- When I came home at 4 a.m., my dad really gave me the third degree.
- In the book I use the terms "third degree" and "torture" interchangeably because "third degree" has become synonymous with torture and the interviewees often used them interchangeably.2020, Jinee Lokaneeta, The Truth Machines, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 168
third degree meaning in Tamil
third degree in Tamil
- கட்டாயப்படுத்தல்
Origin of third degree
Attested from 1900. The phrase, meaning "intense interrogation by police," likely refers to the Third Degree of Master Mason in Freemasonry, the ceremony for which included an interrogation. Alternatively, it reflects the practice of interrogation under torture, where three degrees of torture were recognized, of increasing intensity. In other contexts, three degrees of interrogation were recognised, with torture being the third degree.
Questions about third degree
- What does third degree mean?
- Third degree means intensive rough interrogation in order to extract information or a confession.
- What is third degree in Tamil?
- Third degree in Tamil is கட்டாயப்படுத்தல். See Third degree meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is third degree?
- Third degree is a noun.
Words near third degree in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: third degree (page history and authors); third degree (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-third degree.ogg.
Cite this entry: “third degree.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/third_degree. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.