Tongue hit a twist (4)
I believe the answer is:
thai
'tongue' is the definition.
(I know that Thai is a tongue)
'hit a twist' is the wordplay.
'twist' indicates an anagram (a twisted or distorted version of the letters).
'hit'+'a'='hita'
'hita' is an anagram of 'THAI'.
(Other definitions for thai that I've seen before include "Easterner" , "oriental language" , "Eg, native of Bangkok" , "Native of Bangkok, say" , "Asian tongue" .)