dial. [f. tipe, variant and earlier form of TIP v.2] A kind of trap for catching mice, rabbits, etc., in which a board balanced on a pivot is tipped or tilted by the weight of the animal passing over it. Also tipe-trap. (See Eng. Dial. Dict.)
1788. W. Marshall, E. Yorks., II. Gloss., Tipe, a trap or devise for catching rabbits. Also for taking mice, rats, or other vermin. The general principle is that of a balance [etc.].
1828. Craven Gloss., Tipe, a mouse trap, consisting of a board suspended over a vessel of water, and nicely balanced on a pivot.
1846. J. Baxter’s Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), I. 335. The usual methods adopted in catching rabbits are by fold-nets, spring-nets, and tipes, a species of trap, being a pit or cistern covered with a floor, with a small trapdoor, nicely balanced near the centre, into which the rabbits pass by a narrow passage.
