third Idiom, Proverb

give me the third degree

question me carefully, haul up on the carpet The police ask a lot of questions. They give you the third degree.

go down for the third time

drown, die, fail In Calculus 101, I'm going down for the third time. I'm failing.

third degree

careful questioning, on the carpet If I'm late, I get the third degree. Mom asks me a lot of questions.

give sb the third degree

Idiom(s): give sb the third degree

Theme: INTERROGATION

to question someone in great detail for a long period. (Slang.)
• The police gave Sally the third degree.
• Stop giving me the third degree. I told you what I know.

get the third degree

Idiom(s): get the third degree

Theme: INTERROGATION

to be questioned in great detail for a long period. (Slang.)
• 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.

Third rail

The third rail of something is dangerous to alter or change. Originally, the third rail is the one carrying the electricity for a train.

Third time's the charm

This is used when the third time one tries something, one achieves a successful outcome.

Third times a charm

After no success the first two times, the third try is a lucky one.

third base|base|third

n. The base to be touched third in baseball. He reached third base standing up on a long triple.

third class|class|third

n. 1. The third best or highest group; the class next after the second class. Mary won the pie-making contest in the third class, for the youngest girls. 2. Mail that is printed, other than magazines and newspapers that are published regularly, and packages that are not sealed and weigh less than a pound. The company uses third class to mail free samples of soap. 3. The least expensive class of travel. I couldn't afford anything better than the third class on the ship coming home from France.
Compare: FIRST CLASS, SECOND CLASS.

third degree|degree|third

n. phr. A method of severe grilling used to extract information from an arrested suspect. "Why give me the third degree?" he asked indignantly. "All I did was come home late because I had a drink with my friends."

third sex|sex|third

n., euphemism, slang, informal Homosexual individuals who are either men or women. Billy is rumored to belong to the third sex.

third world|third|world

n. 1. The countries not aligned with either the former U.S.S.R.-dominated Communist bloc or the U.S.A.-dominated capitalist countries. New Zealand made a move toward third country status when it disallowed American nuclear submarines in its harbors. 2. The developing nations of the world where the industrial revolution has not yet been completed. Africa and the rest of the third world must be freed from starvation and illiteracy.

third-class|class|third

third-class¹ adj. Belonging to the third class; of the third highest or best class. Much advertising is sent by third-class mall. I bought a third-class airline ticket to Hawaii.
third-class² adv. By third class. How did you send the package? Third class. We traveled third-class on the train.

third world

third world
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.