third

To be interrogated, scrutinized, or questioned intensely or thoroughly by someone. My boyfriend is so controlling that I always get the third degree if I go anywhere or see anyone without him. I got the third degree from the police regarding my whereabouts during the crime.

To interrogate, scrutinize, or question someone intensely or thoroughly. My boyfriend is so controlling, always giving me the third degree if I go anywhere or see anyone without him. The police gave me the third degree regarding my whereabouts during the crime.

Someone who has no real place or purpose in a situation, likened to a superfluous extra wheel on a two-wheeled vehicle. When Kelly invited me to go to the movies, I didn't know that her boyfriend would be joining us. I felt like a third wheel the entire night.

The substitute players who are second in line to replace the starters (or "first string") as a game goes on. A player on the third string is considered the third best player in that position. My brother seems pretty happy with being the team's third string quarterback, even though he knows he won't get to play unless the two guys ahead of him get injured.

The belief or hope that the third attempt at something will be successful. Primarily heard in UK. I hope to make it third time lucky after failing this test twice already!

Success is more enjoyable, and more likely to happen, after initial failures. I know you're worried about failing this test again, but keep in mind that the third time pays for all.

The belief or hope that the third attempt at something will be successful. Primarily heard in US. I hope the third time's a charm—I've already failed this test twice already!

Fig. to be just on the verge of failing. (From the notion that a boxer who is knocked down three times in one round normally loses the fight.) I was going down for the third time when I thought of a plan that would save my job.

Fig. a long and detailed period of questioning. (*Typically: get ~; give someone ~.) Why is it I get the third degree from you every time I come home late? Poor Sally spent all night at the police station getting the third degree.

Prov. The third time you try to do something, it will work. Jill: I've called Miriam twice, but she doesn't answer her phone. Jane: Try again. The third time's the charm.

in the beginning We should never have agreed to do this in the first place.

in the beginning We should never have agreed to this in the first place. We only had four of these glasses in the first place, and now I've broken two of them.

a situation in which someone tries to find out information by asking you a lot of questions Where have I been, who have I been with! What's this? The third degree? If I'm even half an hour late she gives me the third degree. I got the third degree from my dad when I got in last night.

someone who is in a situation where they are not really needed or are ignored by other people I don't have a role in the office any more - I feel like a fifth wheel.

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.

Something that is dangerous to tamper with, as in Anything concerning veterans is a political third rail. This term alludes to the rail that supplies the high voltage powering an electric train, so called since 1918. On the other hand, grab hold of the third rail means "become energized." Both shifts from the original meaning date from the late 1900s.

Underdeveloped or developing countries, as in The conditions in our poorest rural areas resemble those in the third world. This expression originated in the mid-1900s, at first denoting those countries in Asia and Africa that were not aligned with either the Communist bloc nations or the non-Communist Western nations. Because they were for the most part poor and underdeveloped, the term was transferred to all countries with those characteristics, and later still to poorer groups within a larger prevailing culture.