Confront female expert (4)
I believe the answer is:
face
'confront' is the definition.
('face' can be a synonym of 'confront')
'female expert' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'expert' becomes 'ace' (ace is a kind of expert).
'f'+'ace'='FACE'
(Other definitions for face that I've seen before include "TV show" , "Deal with" , "'Cheeks, mouth, eyes etc (4)'" , "celebrity" , "Cope with" .)