The state a salt lake is in (4)
I believe the answer is:
utah
'the state' is the definition.
(Utah is an example)
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for utah that I've seen before include "State of western US" , "Bryce Canyon US state" , "The American Morman state" , "State, Mormon settlement" , "A hut for the Mormons, oddly" .)