Dial female, expert (4)
I believe the answer is:
face
'dial' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'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 "steep side of mountain" , "cheek" , "celebrity" , "Watch's dial" , "set of features" .)