Definition of Syringe

Syringe: A device used in medicine to inject fluid into or withdraw fluid from the body. Medical syringes consist of a needle attached to a hollow cylinder that is fitted with a sliding plunger. The downward movement of the plunger injects fluid; upward movement withdraws fluid.

Medical syringes were once made of metal or glass, and required cleaning and sterilizing before they could be used again. Now most syringes used in medicine are plastic and disposable.

The Irish physician Francis Rynd in 1845 reported how he had used a hypodermic syringe to inject fluids into a patient at Dublin's Meath Hospital. Rynd, who invented the hypodermic syringe, published his results in the "Dublin Medical Press."

The word "syringe" is derived from "syrinx" and "syringos," Greek words for "pipe" and "tube."