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Nov 1, 2006

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fifth column
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third degree
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third degree

noun: Intensive questioning using rough treatment.

adjective: Pertaining to the third degree.

verb: To subject to such treatment.

[There are many folk etymologies regarding possible origins of this term but lexicographers are not certain. The more popular of the stories suggests it came from the third degree in freemasonry that was the most difficult to achieve. One aspiring to that rank was supposed to undergo intense questioning and grilling.]

"John Dingell loved nothing more than to call witnesses before his committee and give them the third degree."
Thomas Bray; Do Elephants Have Ideas?; The New York Sun; Oct 25, 2006.

See more usage examples of third degree in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

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