syringe
[suh-rinj, sir-inj]
- 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.
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- to cleanse, wash, inject, etc., by means of a syringe.
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Origin of syringe
1375–1425; new singular formed from Late Latin sȳringēs, plural of sȳrinx syrinx; replacing late Middle English syring < Medieval Latin syringa
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for syringe
Contemporary Examples
Despairing, Brody picks up the syringe the doctor has left for him—and injects the heroin the doctor left alongside it.
Damian Lewis Spills On ‘Homeland’s’ Shocking Plot Twist and Brody’s ReturnAndrew Romano
October 14, 2013
They studied the packages carefully, searching for syringe marks or suspicious powders.
A man was restraining him from behind while, to his horror, he said, he saw another leaning in to jab a syringe into his arm.
Several men rush to be the first to make a dollar selling her a syringe.
Seventeen years after the idea first dawned on him, Koska sold his first syringe.
Historical Examples
In this case artificial fecundation by the syringe is practicable.
The Sexual QuestionAugust Forel
So I whispered to him to pretend to go to sleep, and then I told the doctor I had lost the syringe.
The ChristianHall Caine
But he quickly filled the syringe, and prepared to repeat the former operation.
Paul PatoffF. Marion Crawford
Who had spoken lately of a morphinomaniac that carried his syringe always with him?
Ambrotox and Limping DickOliver Fleming
I dropped the syringe into my overcoat pocket and thought no more of the matter.
The Lost DespatchNatalie Sumner Lincoln
syringe
- 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
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- (tr) to cleanse, inject, or spray with a syringe
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Word Origin
C15: from Late Latin, from Latin: syrinx
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for syringe
n.
early 15c., from Late Latin syringa, from Greek syringa, accusative of syrinx "tube, hole, channel, shepherd's pipe," related to syrizein "to pipe, whistle, hiss," from PIE root *swer- (see susurration). Originally a catheter for irrigating wounds, the application to hypodermic needles is from 1884.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
syringe
(sə-rĭnj′, sîr′ĭnj)- An instrument used to inject fluids into the body or draw them from it.
- A hypodermic syringe.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
syringe
[sə-rĭnj′]
- A medical instrument used to inject fluids into the body or draw them from it. Syringes have several different forms. Bulb syringes are usually made of rubber and work by squeezing the bulb to expel a fluid from it, as in ear irrigation. Needle syringes have hypodermic needles attached to plastic or glass tubes that contain plungers to create force or suction.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.