| 释义 |
third degree, third-degree, phr. (n. and a.)
A. n. phr.
1. gen. The third step or stage in succession, intensity, or amount.
1578[see degree n. 6 c.]. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 145 For he s in the third degree of drinke: hee's drown'd: go looke after him. 1716Pope tr. Homer's Iliad II. v. 48 He got Orsilochus, Diöcleus He, And these descended in the third Degree. 1966Tacheron & Udall Job of Congressman ix. 250 House Rule XIX prohibits amendments in the third degree. An amendment to an amendment is permitted, but not an amendment to an amendment to an amendment.
2. Freemasonry. The highest grade in freemasonry, that of master-mason. Cf. degree n. 7 b.
1772W. Preston Illustrations of Masonry 205 (heading) A charge, to be delivered at Initiation in the Third Degree. 1865J. How Freemason's Man. (ed. 2) 138 The Third Degree, or the Master Mason. Ibid., The Fellow-Craft who is duly qualified by time, on presenting himself as candidate for the third Degree, has to submit himself to an examination of his qualifications as a Craftsman. 1901Scotsman 5 Apr. 6/4 In the third degree in [Free] Masonry a skull and cross-bones are employed.
3. U.S. Law. In defining the extent of criminality, the least serious grade of a particular crime. Cf. degree n. 6 d.
1865Penal Code State of New York xv. i. 192 Maliciously burning in the day time a building, the burning of which in the night time would be arson in the second degree, is arson in the third degree. Ibid. ii. 195 Every person who breaks into any dwelling house in the night time, with intent to commit a crime, but under such circumstances as do not constitute the offense of burglary in the first degree, is guilty of burglary in the third degree. 1949Branham & Kutash Encycl. Criminology 20/2 Assault in the third degree.
4. In many classifications of burns, the deepest variety, resulting in the death of all layers of skin.
Today a twofold classification tends to be used (see quot. 1961).
[1832G. Dupuytren Leçons Orales I. xvi. 209 Nous avons divisé les brûlures en six degrés ainsi caractérisés:..3° destruction d'une partie de l'épaisseur du corps papillaire.] 1866C. H. Fagge tr. Hebra's On Diseases of Skin I. xiii. 317 For all practical purposes, the three grades which I have described are sufficient... We may include under burns of the third degree those forms which Dupuytren and others have spoken of as burns of the fourth, fifth and sixth degrees. 1930J. J. Morton in E. A. Graham Surgical Diagnosis II. 136 Injuries of the first and second degree will leave practically no scarring but serious deformities may result from the third degree burns. 1961Brit. Med. Dict. 231/2 Classification of burns. Dupuytren's classificaton: 1st degree..3rd degree..6th degree... Modern classification: superficial burn or partial thickness skin destruction; deep burn or whole thickness skin destruction.
5. An interrogation of a prisoner by the police involving the infliction of mental or physical suffering in order to bring about a confession or to secure information. orig. U.S.
[1880Harvard Lampoon 6 Feb. 166/1 He met the large and celebrated brother of one of his houries. He stopped to greet him, and was surprised at receiving a clip over the head from the brother's cane. This was followed by a personal chastisement in the third degree.] 1900Everybody's Mag. Nov. 406 From time to time a prisoner..claims to have had the Third Degree administered to him. 1930G. B. Shaw Apple Cart i. 15 Boanerges. What do you mean? put me through it? Is this a police office? Pliny. The third degree is not unknown in this palace, my boy. 1976T. Sharpe Wilt xiii. 136 ‘You don't think they're giving him third degree or anything of that sort?’ ‘My dear fellow, third degree? You've been watching too many old movies on the TV. The police don't use strong⁓arm methods in this country.’
B. attrib. or adj. Of or belonging to the third step or stage (in the senses above).
1926Scribner's Mag. Aug. 193/1 Everybody at Police Headquarters agreed that it was ominously dull that night. There was scarcely a third-degree assault to disturb the city. 1930J. J. Morton in E. A. Graham Surgical Diagnosis II. 136 Serious deformities may result from the third degree burns. 1972Miller & Keane Encycl. & Dict. Med. & Nursing 155/1 Third-degree burns damage the epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue. 1976‘E. McBain’ Guns (1977) iv. 86 They'd charged Colley with..second-degree assault... Even better than that, Colley's lawyer thought, would be for him to plead guilty to the lesser charge of third-degree assault.
Hence third-degree v. trans., to subject to an intensive or violent interrogation; third-degreeing vbl. n.
1928W. Gillette Astounding Crime Torrington Rd. v. 260 They third-degreed Jimmy Dreek good and plenty. Ibid. 269 The fools in Boston had third-degreed an innocent man to his death. 1944‘G. Orwell’ in Horizon Oct. 237 The third-degreeing of the gangster. 1979C. Watson Blue Murder xiii. 111 He third-degreed me about Birdie... The man just goes on and on. |