Tessa arranges the chairs (5)
I believe the answer is:
seats
'chairs' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'tessa arranges' is the wordplay.
'arranges' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'arranging' mean this).
'tessa' with letters rearranged gives 'SEATS'.
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for seats that I've seen before include "Chairs, stools" , "Parliamentary constituencies" .)