Lavish affection (4)
I believe the answer is:
dote
'lavish affection' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for dote that I've seen before include "Be excessively fond" , "Group, cluster" , "Love excessively and foolishly" , "Be extremely and uncritically fond of" , "Be weakly affectionate" .)