Deborah started changing act (5,3,6)

I believe the answer is:

tread the boards

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'act' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'deborah started changing' is the wordplay.
'changing' indicates an anagram.
'deborah'+'started'='deborahstarted'
'deborahstarted' anagrammed gives 'TREAD THE BOARDS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tread the boards that I've seen before include "act" , "What actors do" , "plays" , "Work as an actor" .)

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