Crossword Genius

A dialect word for 'countenance' (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dial

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'for countenance' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a dialect word' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'dil' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dial that I've seen before include "Meter face" , "Watch face" , "Face with numbers" , "Part of old telephone" , "Select a telephone number" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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