Advertisement
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.
updated on November 23, 2012
Advertisement
Advertisement
Dictionary entries near third degree
think tank
thinkable
thinker
thinner
third
third degree
Third World
thirst
thirsty
thirteen
thirteenth