Tickler was a wax-ended piece of cane, worn smooth by collision with my tickled frame.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 2. Here we learn about Mrs. Joe’s torture weapon which she used to punish Pip with. The cane’s name is a good example of verbal irony, because far from tickling Pip the device is designed to cause him pain. This shows the abusive environment orphan Pip grows up in having his sister as mother.