syringe
Americannoun
-
syringes
plural
-
a small device consisting of a glass, metal, or hard rubber tube, narrowed at its outlet, and fitted with either a piston or a rubber bulb for drawing in a quantity of fluid or for ejecting fluid in a stream, for cleaning wounds, injecting fluids into the body, etc.
-
any similar device for pumping and spraying liquids through a small aperture.
verb (used with object)
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syringes,
present (3rd person singular)
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syringed,
past participle, past
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syringing
present participle
noun
-
med an instrument, such as a hypodermic syringe or a rubber ball with a slender nozzle, for use in withdrawing or injecting fluids, cleaning wounds, etc
-
any similar device for injecting, spraying, or extracting liquids by means of pressure or suction
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
syringesimple
-
syringessimple
-
have syringedperfect
-
has syringedperfect
-
am syringingprogressive
-
are syringingprogressive
-
is syringingprogressive
-
have been syringingperfect progressive
-
has been syringingperfect progressive
Past
-
syringedsimple
-
had syringedperfect
-
was syringingprogressive
-
were syringingprogressive
-
had been syringingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of syringe
1375–1425; new singular formed from Late Latin sȳringēs, plural of sȳrinx syrinx; replacing late Middle English syring < Medieval Latin syringa
Explanation
A syringe is used, usually by a doctor or nurse, to inject or withdraw a fluid from your body. A syringe is a medical tool used for several purposes, but they all involve liquids going in or out of your body. A flu shot is given with a syringe: that's a liquid going in. A blood sample is taken with a syringe: that's liquid coming out. Part of a syringe is a needle, so patients usually don't like them. Syringes should only be used by medical professionals.
Vocabulary lists containing syringe
"Working Toward Peace," Vocabulary from the personal essay
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for January 1–January 7, 2022
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 30–February 5, 2021
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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.
See Examples For:
Their theory was that the descending column of water acted somewhat like a syringe, pushing air through the shaft as it fell.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
The Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve the Eylea HD syringe.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
And it turns out there’s an ingenious, inexpensive little invention that combines the pacifier with the medicine syringe.
From Slate ● May 17, 2026
Qaisrani says a father told him he challenged syringe reuse at THQ Taunsa but was ignored by nurses.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
Mother, who had learned to give injections from a doctor in Jerusalem, took out the syringe and the needle she owned and boiled them for a long time to purify them.
From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat
A diabetic, the 65-year-old said he couldn’t afford insulin and the local clinic rarely has syringes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The exhibition puts designer Pierre-Olivier Persin’s bust of the creature alongside the syringes, vials and other medical paraphernalia from the mysterious Substance kit that sets the movie’s nightmare in motion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
If the syringes were accidentally switched, is that a mix-up rather than a murder?
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
South Korean police said on Tuesday they were investigating firms suspected of hoarding medical syringes, as the Middle East war hits supplies of an oil-derived component crucial for making many plastic goods.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
On the table near Fig she set down two small glass containers—one with a label, one without—two red-capped syringes, and an orange, and then she swiftly left the room.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
As a last resort, however, a child may be held and the medicine carefully syringed in.
From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2021
But it was a two-person task to administer her critical-care rabbit food, a powdered blend of timothy grass and soybean hulls to be mixed with warm water and syringed thrice daily past Judy’s unfriendly teeth.
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2018
Of course, it’s a misconception that everything punk was just three chords syringed with a whole lot of distortion and anarchy.
From Time ● Jul. 17, 2014
One recent example was someone who was struggling to get an appointment to have their ears syringed.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2013
If the Wound be deep, it may be syringed with the same Balsam very hot, and the sides of it anointed when drawn together.
From The Compleat Surgeon or, the whole Art of Surgery explain'd in a most familiar Method. by Charles Gabriel Le Clerc
Micro-suction treatment has replaced syringing where GPs removed wax by injecting water into the ear with a large metal syringe.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2022
Other greens on the back nine were watered too, but the syringing began before anyone had played the holes.
From Golf Digest ● Jun. 12, 2018
Dr Jessen said: "I advised them to use olive oil as drops. Olive oil is anti-bacterial, antiseptic and softening - they may not need their ears syringing after using that."
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2013
We find her in the lab, syringing gas out of a plastic vial in which a raisin-sized rat turd has been incubating at ninety-nine degrees.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2013
They require syringing as well as rich feeding when carrying a crop.
From The Book of Pears and Plums by Edward Bartrum
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