Meanings
- informalIntensive 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.
1 more example
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
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French interrogatoire
- interrogatoireTranslations
Italian terzo grado
- terzo gradoTranslations
Spanish tercer grado, tantas preguntas
- tercer gradoTranslations
- tantas preguntasTranslations
- interrogatorioTranslations
Cite this entry
third degree. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/third%20degree
“third degree.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/third%20degree. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “third degree,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/third%20degree.
Source: third degree on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.