Noun: Black Maria blak mu'ree-u
- A form of whist in which players avoid winning tricks containing hearts or the queen of spades
"Black Maria is often one of the first trick-taking card games that children learn";
- hearts
- Van used by police to transport prisoners
"A Black Maria arrived to transport the suspects";
- police van, police wagon, paddy wagon [N. Amer, Austral, NZ], patrol wagon [US, Austral, NZ], wagon
Derived forms: Black Marias
Type of: long whist [archaic], short whist, van, whist
Encyclopedia: Black Maria