hackney carriage

English

Lines of hackney coaches in Havana, Cuba (c. 1900)

A light blue 'black cab' hackney carriage in London, England (2014)

Noun

hackney carriage (plural hackney carriages)

1. (British, chiefly historical) A horse-drawn carriage for public hire.

   Synonyms: hack cab, hackney cab

2. (British, formal) Synonym of black cab, an officially licensed taxi, a motorized vehicle for public hire.
   • 2016 February 9, Trevor Merralls, “Uber is no better than an old-fashioned gangmaster – so London’s cabbies are striking”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     It is clear the Tory party is on an ideological crusade against my industry. Its interference in London’s recent private hire review shows just how far the government will go to deregulate the UK hackney carriage trade.