Black Maria
/blæk məˈɹaɪə/
Black Maria noun: a police van for transporting prisoners.
Noun
Black Maria (plural Black Marias)
- A police van for transporting prisoners.
- The Upper Ten Thousand have plenty of cash—
At the Central Park, on the “Drive,” cut a dash;
They have their light wagons, fast horses beside;
In the free “Black Maria” the Lower Ten ride.1867, Tony Pastor, “The Upper and Lower Ten Thousand”, in Tony Pastor’s Book of Six Hundred Comic Songs and Speeches - You know it means no mercy / They caught him with a gun / No need for the Black Maria / Goodbye to the Brixton sun1979, Paul Simonon, “The Guns of Brixton”, performed by The Clash
- Synonyms:
- paddy wagon
- The Upper Ten Thousand have plenty of cash—
Black Maria meaning in Tamil
Black Maria in Tamil
- சிறைவண்டி
Synonyms of Black Maria
Forms of Black Maria
| plural | Black Marias |
|---|
Origin of Black Maria
Unknown, though such vans were traditionally painted black. First attested in the 1830s.
Words that rhyme with Black Maria
Questions about Black Maria
- What does Black Maria mean?
- Black Maria means a police van for transporting prisoners.
- What is Black Maria in Tamil?
- Black Maria in Tamil is சிறைவண்டி. See Black Maria meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is Black Maria?
- Black Maria is a noun.
- How do you pronounce Black Maria?
- Black Maria is pronounced /blæk məˈɹaɪə/.
- What is the plural of Black Maria?
- The plural of Black Maria is Black Marias.
Words near Black Maria in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Black Maria (page history and authors); black maria (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-Black Maria.ogg.
Cite this entry: “Black Maria.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/black_maria. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.