To give intense questioning and/or rough treatment

Every time I go out alone, I get the third degree from my boyfriend: where have you been, who did you see, who did you talk to... Enough! I've made up my mind: I'm going to dump him

Ogni volta che esco da sola, il mio ragazzo mi fa il terzo grado: dove sei stata, chi hai visto, con chi hai parlato... Basta! Ho deciso che lo mollo

All of my male friends knew that coming to my house, meant getting a third degree by my father

Tutti i miei amici maschi sapevano che venendo a casa mia, avrebbero subito il terzo grado da parte di mio padre

In Freemasonry, the third and highest degree is that of master mason, attained after a stiff examination. Several writers speculate that this may be the source of this late-19th-century expression for inquisition