Black Maria
noun /ˌblæk məˈraɪə/
/ˌblæk məˈraɪə/
(old-fashioned, informal)- a police van that was used in the past for transporting prisoners inTopics Transport by car or lorryc2, Law and justicec2Word Originmid 19th cent. (originally US): said to be named after a black woman, Maria Lee, who kept a boarding house in Boston and helped police in escorting drunk and disorderly customers to jail.