Definition of "lovey"

lovey

noun
plural loveys
1. (UK) An informal mode of address (associated most often with actors and the like).
  Quotations
  “Now, my lovey, eat it up like a good girl,” said nurse, setting her lips in a way that Bertha knew, and that meant she had come into the nursery at another wrong moment.
  1918 August, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Bliss”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, page 118
2. A baby's toy, blanket, or other object of affection
  Quotations
  Young children need to have certain love objects or “loveys” such as teddy bears around all the time.
  1987, Kathryn Castle, The Infant & Toddler Handbook: Invitations for Optimum Early Development
  If loveys can help children grow up, he says, "it seems obvious to me that we should treasure them. […] If a child has formed an attachment to a lovey, it's important that his need be respected by his caregivers
  1987 June, Working Mother, volume 10, number 6, page 96
  A lovey can be a comfort to your child and ease the pain of separation.
  2010, Elizabeth Pantley, The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution