black Maria
- noun
- /blæk məˈraɪə/
- Archaic
:
furgón policial
- The police loaded the arrested suspect into the black Maria, ready for transport to the station.
Examples
-
The ones that threw me in a black Maria told me that I should stop asking them where they were taking me, 'cause where we're takin' you, you ain't coming back.
Blog text (14) -
Until the City Paper starts hailing people away in Black Marias to secret prisons, it is absurd to compare suggesting that the City Paper encourage civility by not letting people post hateful comments anonymously with the tactics of the NKVD.
Blog text (13) -
After the event, a black Maria arrived to take the rioters away.
-
The officers hailed a black Maria to transport the detained individuals back to the precinct.
Synonyms
37
5.9
A van used by police to carry prisoners to a station
5
8.2
A police van that carries prisoners
5
1.6
A van police use to carry people they have arrested
1
3.3
A van police use to carry people they arrest
A van used by police to carry arrested people
Surface Forms
Morphology
black + Maria
The compound 'black Maria' is an idiomatic/slang name for a police van whose connection to the constituents is not compositional: 'Maria' is a proper name with no obvious semantic link to vehicles and 'black' only supplies color. Its meaning is historically and culturally specific rather than derivable from the words, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would not predict 'police van'.
Etymology
Black Maria may come from a famous racehorse called Black Maria known for its power and speed; when a large dark police wagon came, people said it reminded them of that strong animal. So the name came to mean 'a police van used to transport prisoners'.