A syringe nowadays nearly always means a medical syringe, but it can mean any of these:

• A simple hand-powered piston pump consisting of a plunger that can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube (the barrel), which has a small hole on one end, so it can suck liquid in and then squirt it out by the same hole. The word "syringe" came from the Greek συριγξ = "tube" via extracting a new singular from its Greek-type plural "syringes" (συριγγες); see also syrinx.
• In former times the word "syringe" also meant big two-handed pumps of this type used e.g. as early firefighting water pumps.
• Nowadays the word "syringe" is restricted to smaller devices, used to transfer small amounts of liquids or gases to or from otherwise inaccessible areas, including particularly hypodermic syringes used with a needle for injection.
• As a result, jet injectors are sometimes called syringes.
• Distinguish from syrinx. Also, some people use "syringes" as the plural of "syrinx".