Black Maria
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of Black Maria
An Americanism dating back to 1840–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Black Maria, also called "the Dog House," was the first movie studio ever constructed.
From Salon • Apr. 2, 2022
Ferguson’s Gang, as they called themselves, were masked, anonymous activists who went by codenames such as Bill Stickers, Granny the Throttler, Black Maria and Red Biddy.
From The Guardian • Feb. 8, 2019
So let’s start where the novel does, winter ’53, with one of the feared Black Maria trucks arriving in darkness to arrest Solomon Levinson, an actor from the defunct State Jewish Theater.
From Washington Post • Jan. 25, 2016
Instead of documenting the world, Edison created his own, bringing subjects to his Black Maria studio in northern New Jersey.
From Salon • Oct. 15, 2010
I followed him out into the back regions, where we found two stalwart policemen busily occupied attaching a couple of horses to an enormous Black Maria.
From The Beautiful White Devil by Boothby, Guy Newell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
